Most of the eye beads I saw in Istanbul were made in China. In bulk!

Also, why not stick an 'evil eye' on a piece of fake turquoise......?

A variety of old and 'old-ish' beads and things from the Grand Bazaar

In an old Islamic madrassa, earlier this year a museum of Islamic calligraphy and prayer beads was opened.
It was one of the oddest museums I ever went to. There was nobody there but the staff, only new (but high quality) prayer beads. No explanations, history, information on use or materials. Just lots of eye candy.

Some intricately carved beads from the museum and a wide range of amber prayer beads from the market.

Not just amber is popular for making the prayer beads. Old and new plastics are very common materials, including the old bakelite/phenolic resin.
This gentleman had an impressive stash of old bakelite from Germany.

Beadwork has been very popular in Turkey. Saw these pieces in a flea market. Some are old, others are new.

And it seemed like the right place to do some of my own beadwork, while on the ferry to one of the local Islands.

Set of old Czech mixed beads made into a strand for prayer beads.

Czech beads, most engraved by hand with Islamic verses and/or names

I found this tiny glass vessel in an antique shop, amongst old silver, fake coral and mixed stuff.
Could not resist.....
It shows all the signs to me of a genuine small core formed 'amphoriskos' from BC.
It is about 2 inches high, and one inch wide.
The top is striped black, white and amber color. The handles are green.
The body is a dark blue/black and white feathered pattern, and it has a round point at the end.
It's patina is varied. Some has iridescence, other parts are almost clean, other patina is brown/white. It has a crack must have been repaired, but no easily visible glue on the surface.

Any thoughts on this are very welcome.

...to this pretty little piece, mind-boggling!

Thank you, Floor, your really took me to another place today! :^)

Not only can you walk from one continent to another by crossing a bridge.....
You can see a man carrying bread on his head to sell in the market like has been done for centuries. And you turn around, and you see this alley filled with hipster coffee shops like you are in San Francisco. There's nightclubs and ancient mosques, supermarkets, high end stores and those tiny antique stores where you can browse for hours.

I haven't had time to visit beadcollector for a few weeks now, and looking at these wonderful photos allowed me to pretend I was on this trip! It was a wonderful escape & really interesting, so thank you for sharing as well!

I haven't had time to visit beadcollector for a few weeks now, and looking at these wonderful photos allowed me to pretend I was on this trip! It was a wonderful escape & really interesting, so thank you for sharing as well!

Having some together shows the carving is done after the molding of the glass, and is done by hand. The pics show front and back.
Some have Arabic writing on them (some which I recognize as Quran verses) others have animals depicted on them.

Another piece I could not resist at the flea market. (BTW, if you are ever in Istanbul on a Sunday, go to the 'Feriköy flea market, it is great)

It is a beaded snake. It is pretty old, considering the beads used. It may or may not be related to the beadwork snakes made by prisoners. It seems to fit the period, but it does not have any text on it. It is about 30 cm long.

And with that snake, this Istanbul Bead report comes to an end!

For Peter, I would answer New York City. Without a doubt.

For me.....I am not that quick to decide. Picking a city to live, to work, to visit for a week, to visit for a day, for great culture or for fellow artists, for bead shopping or good food?

I think of places that I felt at home easily, and I had the hardest time saying goodbye to, it would be Beijing, Aleppo and San Francisco.

But for fun trips......Istanbul is a good contender!

Floor, I don't recall hearing about your travels to Aleppo...

When I travelled the Silk Road, that's when I also visited Aleppo.
I travelled overland from Damascus to Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kygystan to Beijing, China.
So Aleppo was very early in our trip. The combination of hospitality we experienced with the amazing bazaar was very memorable.

It aches my heart to think of the state this city today.

Thank you for sharing your traveling bead exploits once again. You are becoming the "Herodotus" of modern bead writers (grin).

Seriously though this is very entertaining and educational for those of us unable to see such things otherwise.

Jan

Thanks Jan. It takes some time, but it great fun to do.
Now I have your attention......if you have any thoughts on the little vessel I posted, it would be very welcome.

These little vessels can be difficult. There have been a great many copies made over the last many years. I once heard about an operation is Syria (before the current conflict), that was producing incredible examples using ancient techniques with modern glass. Some were even repaired on purpose.

It would be hard for me to be certain, because I have just not handled enough authentic examples myself (see Roman era perfume bottle lid below). That said, if I were to have to decide one way or the other I would say that yours is not authentic. But, I could easily be wrong, to me the patina is just not right and the colors appear off as well.

But, please seek another opinion, vessels are not really a specialty of mine.

Jan

Thanks for your thoughts. I have been looking at some info on the Syrian made fakes. They are very good indeed. Apparently it was just one man or one workshop where all of the good fakes were coming from.

Probably the best thing for me is to take it with me to Tucson, and let some people look at it up close.

Either way, I only paid a price for it that a good fake would cost. So if it is fake, not much is lost and knowledge is gained.

Hi floor .thx for your report of istanbul bead bazar.I am sure you could find many nice beads in the shops drives.to me your glass piece seems not real old.I am suspect tp patina and crack also.12 years ago I was in Damascu and I saw many copies of ancient glass beads.some seemed also repaired.but I can never be sure about your piece except you show it to some experts.in iran some put beads in bottom part of water cooler to get patina buy salt and other minerals.but surely there are many ways to make patina.now you are a glass bead artist and surely your guess about that piece is very important.news says all syrian antiques were trafficked to three cities in turkey.hope one day they back again to syrian museums.enjoy fish sandwich in Istanbul beach. All the best Ali

Ali, thank you too.
More opinions certainly help.

Had a look at some of the articles. It does not appear to be a very typical fake, with the thin white patina. You also see that on some pieces made in China. I'm guessing I either have a genuine piece or a pretty good fake. I enjoy puzzles like this that make you dive into a new subject.

My instinct from holding it and watching it closely makes me think it is ancient. However, I realize that that does not really mean very much.

This was not a piece that was treasured by the shop owner. It was just part of a pile of mixed stuff and the initial asking price was $50. Could be that he just got a batch of some fakes somewhere that got mixed in. How a genuine ancient piece could be overlooked......does seem odd.

I visited Syria 9 years ago. Got my first small collectible beads there, including some fakes. After nearly 10 years of collecting, maybe I have come 'full circle'. ;-)

This was great! The photos and all of the comments were wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing this.

http://www.europa.com/~alice/Istanbul_Proceedings.html

There were massive problems with the promised accommodations, that in many cases were prepaid but then not available when the participants showed up. And I heard of one couple who were actually jailed for alleged smuggling of artifacts but they were released after a few days.

I also heard that the lectures and bead sale were outstanding.

So the people involved need to fill in more details, but I know for sure that some of them are still angry and do not want to talk about what happened to them and what it cost to straighten out the mess.

I feel honored to have been chosen to be among A-list presenters. And everything in Istanbul went smoothly for me.

In my opinion, this was the most ambitious and posh, truly international bead conference ever held. But it needed twice the number of participants to cover expenses and make a profit for the Turkish organizer. Personally, I believe it should be remembered for all it accomplished rather than for the inconveniences of those who felt disenfranchised. Currently, Jan Skipper is offering for sale a copy of the very impressive proceedings.

What I remember is that I really enjoyed the lectures(to many to pick from), the contemporary bead exhibition, the beadmarket downstairs where my wife started to make her own beads, the good Turkish food, some arrogant people attending too, it was very nice meeting Paula. So I would do it again anytime.

Hendrik