| Original Message: Puzzling Chinese charm Haskell-style necklace |
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This arrived today, an auction purchase. I was considering taking it apart for the cloisonne beads, but upon loupe examination all components appear to be original and intact.
And there's no glass or plastic. The carved rose is coral. As is the small seed bead. The other non-metallic beads are canarium nut, rudraksha seed, deteriorated copal[amber doesn't get dandruffy like that?], ivory, turquoise, serpentine, rock crystal, amethyst, carnelian, and smoky quartz. One of the cloisonne beads has the curious feature of apparently being enameled, but not subequently ground and polished. Firepolished. I have other examples of this exact chain and clasp on other Chinese charm necklaces, as well as the stone components. If anyone's interested, let me know, and I'll post pix. I tend to think of these things as being popular in the late 1930s-early 1940s - Japan's invasion of Manchuria and China, Madame Chiang Kai-sheks speech to Congress, etc. - China was in the news. Apart from the stamped filigree findings and brass heart, the question seems to be whether these necklaces and bracelets were the product of a Chinese workshop - Hong Kong? Peking/Peiping? Shanghai? - or assembled somewhere else with Chinese stone and cloisonne beads. And if they actually might date closer to the 1920s, when China was a tourist destination despite the civil conflict and warlords. The crappy photos are the auctioneer's. Thoughts, anyone? All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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