After the end of the Qing empire in 1912, court artifacts from necklaces and hats seem to have been popular for conversion into trinkets such as servant bells, canisters, and jewelry for foreigners. The style of cloisonne work on these beads matches Fran's "lantern" beads necklace.

http://www.beadiste.com/2015/01/puzzling-evidence-rare-deco-chinese.html

I own the 3 beads from the auction photo in the blog article, and posted about them here:

http://beadcollector.net/cgi-bin/anyboard.cgi?fvp=/openforum/&cmd=iYz&aK=535220&iZz=535220&gV=0&kQz=&aO=1&iWz=0