I stumbled across the information in the first post below when conducting research for a non-bead topic. I didn’t save the catalog references since they weren’t pertinent to my research; however, today, in a quick search of the Internet Archive (IA), I located the references (included after the post) to court jewelry and personal ornament that survived disassembly; there may be other such references on the IA.

Just wondering if my carved bone string of beads could be one such piece. Admittedly, the necklaces in the first catalog listed below are precious stones, not bone...

01/13/2018 post entitled “Limited edition of the shop sign book; however...” in discussion of traditional bead shop signs, in or near Beijing, c. 1930s-40s:
“A note, the sign in the colored plate is labeled "glass bead" sign. I wonder if only glass beads were sold in the shop or the label refers to the glass beads used in the sign. Seems likely to be the former. I found a few auction catalogs from the 1920s-30s containing court necklaces (no pictures, though). This suggests that some necklaces composed of the more precious beads were collected in the early Republic?”

Today, after a quick check of the Internet Archive, these references were located:

Illustrated catalogue of the important collection of antique Chinese porcelains, Sung and Ming potteries, ancient stone sculptures, carved jades and other hard stones, snuff bottles, Mandarin necklaces,... American Art Association; Lee, Van Ching; et al. 1917.
https://archive.org/details/liu-31289009872427/page/n23
Mandarin Necklaces, p. 24 (photograph on p. 25), 35-36, 46-47.

Catalogue of a very important collection of antique oriental art objects. Fifth Avenue Auction Rooms (New York, N.Y.). 1917.
https://archive.org/details/catalogueofveryi00fift/page/n61
Court ladies hair ornaments and head dresses.