Solid wax?

The plastic beads are smaller, on the left.

I can see the larger beads starting out as a wooden core, with a molded wax layer atop, the mold marks then tidied up with some hand finishing.

Or a machine-turned design coated with wax?

Great post! Thank you. Adding to the discussion, from Rubylane:

Vintage Chinese Carved Guri Lacquer Cinnabar Large Bead Necklace. Lacquer is applied in red and black colored layers largely on a wood core and carved in geometric or curved patterns so as to reveal different lacquer colors. Dates to 1940s -1950s (could be bit earlier). Necklace is 27 inches in length. It has no clasp; it needs to be tied on the back. Necklace was recently re-strung. There are 10 hand knotted beads with approx. diameter of 1 inches. Light surface wear.

(Per an Internet site, Guri is the Japanese term for this lacquer, Tixi is the Chinese term.)

"forms a polymer when oxidized in moist air, which takes time; applied in multiple thin layers, with up to a week drying time between layers."

I was told that it was more accurate to call this "curing" rather than drying . . . it was memorably discussed in a long-ago graduate seminar in which a poor guy had tried to do a small lacquer sculpture instead of a paper on lacquer for his final grade in the class. He hadn't counted on the curing time between layers, or on how many layers he was going to need to achieve what he wanted . . .

He didn't do very well in the class . . .

Susan Dods link is attached to the first post.

Yoicks and away...

Duh.

I didn't see the name Susan Dods anywhere, so figured that wasn't it . . . not bothering to scrutinize the pics for what you were referring to . . . and also my attention span is pretty weak this time in the afternoon . . .

What is 'the Susan Dods link'?

I've missed that somewhere . . .

I wish I'd seen Debby's necklace before someone else swooped in and bought it!

The eBay tassel pendant's seller says it was purchased "25-30 years ago" and is "vintage, not antique."

Possibly these beads might be among products from the Chinese workshops organized in the 1950s to earn foreign exchange from traditional arts - cloisonne, lacquer, ivory carving, jade carving.

Trade with the US took off in the early 1970s after the end of the 20-year embargo, hence the appearance of these items in US auctions of estate items purchased 30 years ago?

Although I cannot re-locate the site, recently found a Chinese site that distinguished between the varieties of cinnabar lacquer, and reported that the old craftsmen in the Beijing workshop were few in number, dying off, and not being replaced by younger craftspeople. Nobody wants to spend their life working patiently with toxic sap and being paid pennies for their skill, I'm guessing.

Forgot I owned this. A friend brought it back from a trip to China.

Definitely carved, not especially carefully, but OK for the price.

Base layer of dogbone beads is black. Again, whether the coating is tree-sap lacquer or something else such as a variety of sealing wax, I don't know how to determine.

Different surface textures between the carved and molded pieces.

It rather dismays me, the prices quoted for pieces that seem to involve a lot of time and skill, even if they are recent.

Seems to be the motherlode for lacquer pieces in recent decades.

"Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory is the largest lacquerware producer in all China. "Lacquerware" is a sort of catch-all term for the sort of decorative articles often brought home by tourists as souvenirs. The lacquer industry in Yangzhou is a 2,000 year old affair, and this factory carries on that tradition proudly, having won numerous national and international awards for its craftsmanship.
The Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory imports and exports numerous unique works of art annually. Its wares include screens bearing paintings and frescos or inlaid with jade or pearl, quality stationary and ink slabs, uniquely designed furniture pieces, tea sets, smoking sets, vases, trays, decorative boxes, bowls, cabinets, and more. Over 2,000 kinds of items are produced. These traditional handicrafts of China are created using numerous techniques including carving, inlaying, engraving, polishing, dotting, and painting.

The "Lacquer Flower" brand of the Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory is famous nation and world wide. These products have often been given to foreign dignitaries or collected in China as valued national treasures. The tourist would do well to peruse them and to pick out one or two to take home."

Note that nobody exactly says what it is.

Besides just being a pretty sight for the eyes, Yangzhou lacquerware is also impressively resistant to heat, moisture, and corrosion. Appreciating its beauty hardly tells of the complex process and ancient history behind this special creation that some call the height of ancient Chinese technological artistry. On top of this, lacquerware technology continues to improve, as today its forms have evolved into a diverse display, more varied and intricate than at anytime in its two thousand year history.
During the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) the first coats of lacquer paint were laid on in Yangzhou, but practicality rather than aesthetics dominated. By the Western Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D.24) though, lacquerware had already become a colorfully decorated, developed art form. Lacquerware became such a cherished product that it became predominantly a gift of tribute. Apparently during the Tang dynasty in just one trip to the capital Chang'an (Xi'an) a load of 10,000 lacquerware pieces were delivered. By the Ming and Qing dynasties Yangzhou lacquerware had reached the most experimental proportions when forms involving jade and mother-of-pearl inlays were born. The celebrated "Eight Eccentrics" of Yangzhou also had their calligraphy and paintings etched into lacquer products. It became so well received that during the Qing dynasty the Imperial Palace in Beijing even had a few Yangzhou lacquerware tables, chairs, and plates.
Today, Yangzhou lacquer products are made into over three hundred different forms, including anything from huge standing partitions to coasters to chairs to liquor cabinets. Adding lacquerware into interior design has more or less become a way of making a place look "Asian," and thriving off this, Yangzhou exports this little gem in great numbers to over 50 nations.

The authors say straight up that sometimes "piano varnish" is used instead of lacquer.

Yangzhou lacquer seems to involve inlaying shell, gems etc as well as carving.

Very doubtful this sort of involved work gets applied to cinnabar beads.

Those Deco-era Japanese lacquer beads with the layers and shell inlay are getting more appealing by the minute.

My take-away from the above. Comments to refine the below (especially where there are question marks) are appreciated.

Common production methods for cinnabar jewelry pieces after the second quarter of the 20th century:

Second quarter of 20th century-1960s +/-: Cinnabar lacquer made of natural resin applied to a base material, often wood or metal, in thin layers, each layer hardening before the next layer is applied; subsequently carved. Non-toxic pigments used?

1970s-1990s +/-: Synthetic cinnabar resin cast into molds, then carved. In many respects, similar in color and surface appearance to cinnabar lacquer, although lacking layered composition.

1990s-present (?) +/-: Different type of synthetic resin came into widespread use. Brighter red than the above, with a plasticy, shiny appearance. Commonly created in two-part molds, with visible joint marks. Sometimes only roughly formed in molds then carved to completely hide the joints.

There seem to be simultaneous processes involved -

1) Lacquer from a certain tree-sap, long tradition of use, specialty of a Beijing workshop that nearly died out during the turmoil in the early part of the century, then was revived with government sponsorship in the 1950s and is now once again nearly moribund. Seems to have a hard and smooth surface. Can crack with age, or as the underlying wood or paper or bamboo or whatever dries and cracks.

2) Some other sort of resin - or resins, plural - in the Yangzhou workshops. This is the stuff I suspect resembles sealing wax. Apparently also an old traditional industry. Can it be applied in layers, too? Yes - black and red seems to be a favorite combination. Also shows up in green, yellow, and turquoise. Can be carved. Applied over a metal or wood base.

3) Some sort of moldable waxy-looking resin. Not sure when this got started - 1970s? earlier? Has obvious seams. Again, a type of sealing wax?

4) Plastic - definitely post-1970s. Requires a considerable support industry to produce the raw industrial resins - one cannot simply scrape up insect residue, boil down pine wood shavings, and melt up a batch in a pot.

The beads from the 1930s that show up in costume jewelry manufactured in the east coast of the US seem to be susceptible to melting or disintegration with slight heat. One source suggested "putty" (linseed oil and chalk, dries out and cracks with age), but some sort of Yangzhou resin seems more likely. I have a couple of mushy-looking specimens on Haskell-style jewelry, but am not sure what to do to actually identify the stuff.

If you do a Google Images search for "Gray Kingsburg" you can find several examples of the 1930s style cinnabar beads. They appear to be layered and carved, but meltable.

I had intended to suggest overlaps between the various types of beads manufactured with the use of +/-, but I gather that wasn't clear; oh, well.

Beadiste, I've wondered why you have referred to cinnabar beads as waxy? I skimmed the article on sealing wax you posted, but the only reference to cinnabar I could find is one sealing wax recipe; I had assumed the cinnabar was added for color only. Do you think the bead material is petroleum-based (as is wax)? Are you referring to the same type of greasy finish some glass beads are said to have? (I don't know what makes greasy glass beads greasy so this is a leap.)

To refine the below, per Beadiste's comments; further comments on the below?:

1920s-1990s +/-: Type or types of synthetic cinnabar resin applied in layers over metal or wood bases and then carved. Waxy finish. Used in Yangzhou workshops. Colors: black and red, green, yellow, and turquoise.

1970s +/- to present: Waxy-looking resin cast into molds; objects have obvious mold seams. Sometimes only roughly formed in molds then carved to completely hide the joints.

1990s-present +/-: Different type of synthetic resin came into widespread use. Brighter red than the above, with a plastic, shiny appearance. Commonly created in two-part molds, with visible joint marks.

Whereas the layered lacquer is not scrape-able - feels like dried painted wood, although it is in fact a couple mm deep and wood only at the core. That pic with the two flat beads was an attempt to show the different textures - the molded waxy one is on the right.

Whether the "paint" is actual tree-sap lacquer or a substitute is what I cannot tell.

But the waxy stuff seems almost certainly to not be sap lacquer, hence I wondered if it was a variety of sealing wax mixture: pine resin, shellac, and solvent (turpentine), those being traditional components that don't require any petroleum refining.

And I really hope nobody is still using mercury-based vermilion coloring anymore, but that also makes me wonder what the substitute color is - dragon's blood? rust? red lead?

The colorant used in the molded waxy stuff produces a definitely pinkish hue when an acetone swab is applied.
The carved lacquer (?) produces an orangish red that fades surprisingly quickly.
The old 1930s mushy piece produces a vivid vermilion. Mercury-based vermilion can apparently turn darker with age and sunlight, so I'm concerned that the bright red layer beneath the icky exterior is not a good sign on these 1930s beads.

Another forum member sent pics of a fabulous Thirties necklace she recently acquired.

5 of these beads works cast - ring or partial ring around the equator - a few perhaps in a thin metal form?
It works quite old - although I do not know how old?

Paula once had an intact necklace (pic below) about which Stefany related:

"Necklaces like this are very familiar to me. I've had several
I tend to think they are Japanese not Chinese, and may have been made specially for tourists of the early C20th.
They include various types of large-holed beads, mostly spherical, including lacquer with or without inlays, large spherical stone beads, large well-made glass with crumbs, or swirls to suggest malachite or agate, beads with relief designs in sealing wax over terracotta either patterns or double masks, some metal beads resembling ojime, knobbly "Rudraksha" style nuts, carved Ivory or bone. The "Coral" twig-like shapes are stained bone. Sometimes these strings include glass spherical beads of yellow with pink rounds added to look like "Hornbill" beads.
98 is divisible by 7 and the intact strands I've handled usually have a seeming random layout but in fact the sequence has several repeats. Your stringing is almost certainly original."

Weirdly riveting are a series of Japanese videos demonstrating exactly - and I do mean exactly - how some traditional lacquer products are made. For purposes of our discussion on these molded beads, there is one video where the artist shows how "tonoko" powder (some kind of polishing mineral - emery? clay?) is kneaded into lacquer to make a putty for use in base layers. Not too big a step to see how this material could be molded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRu7LHG2cgA

Interestingly, actual cinnabar ("nikka-shu" - vermilion made with mercury sulfide?) is also used:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09fWbdlCrUs

And ferrous sulfate for black:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jivIOSHYCU

http://www.arts-and-crafts.jp/dl/kintsugi_manual_en_B.pdf

Again, not too far a stretch to imagine this putty being molded over a wooden core.

Twenty 17mm beads, sold in February, UK, went for 350 Pounds.

The seller thought they were "Victorian."

Or for anything else, for that matter - forests replaced by tea and tobacco crops.

Disturbing.

To Trace the Last Group of Lacquer Farmers in Northern Hunan

And of course, beads don't even appear on the radar.

Beads: the Rodney Dangerfield of antiques?

As well as other equipment to analyze bead materials. One of the (only) things I miss from the working world - the excellent technical toys!

Three short videos, containing such interesting tidbits as that the shop's humid basement is the lacquer workshop, they can only apply lacquer twice a day, that it takes a lacquer tree 5 years to produce a kilo of paint, that machines carve some of the less expensive designs, and that the red coloring is a "rare natural mineral."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZv5NvxDGR0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_TWbtKmrOs
(if you can only stand to watch one, episode 2 is most informative

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Ebv5ZUCCs