The 3 large shou-pattern beads show two 1970s beads on the left, strung with fancy knotting and enameled end caps (one I took apart). You can also see a tiny carving error in the one on the left, where the knife slipped and a line is shortened.

Oddly, I'm uncertain whether the lines displayed on the edges of the carving in the first bead are layers of lacquer, or artifacts of a toothed carving tool. The layers on the second bead are apparent; it also seems to be better carved and with a shiny lacquer surface instead of the dry surface of the first bead. What seems to be a difference in the type of lacquer applied - shiny vs dry - also shows up in the necklace beads in the next photos.

The beads on the right are molded waxy something - you can see where the mold line around the edge has been smoothed away.

The guri carved lacquer bead shows the multiple alternating layers of red and black.

Various necklaces, the center one with the cloisonne beads showing nicer layered lacquer and two beads (the brighter red pair just left of center) that are more similar to the other beads pictured.

It's difficult to discern the layers on these brighter, drier-looking beads - almost as if the lacquer is some sort of thick chalky dip.

The beads in the lower center strand (the one with the silver filigree bead) also show an odd characteristic - they are mostly only shiny around their middles, as if a layer of wax? were applied and buffed. It's possible to see the difference between the final thin wax? layer and where it overlaps a bit on the end caps. The final layer seems tough enough - couldn't scrape it with my fingernail - but I didn't go poking any needles into it.

The oval beads on the lower strand are painted in the manner of ancient red and black lacquer - whether with paint or with actual lacquer, I don't know. The red figures seem to be applied with a stamp, not a brush. The cores are wood.

Unlike the beads in prior pictures, which are very light weight and appear to have wooden cores, the cloisonne beads are comparatively heavy thanks to their brass or copper cores.

The lacquer around the cloisonne again appears to be that dry paste similar to the carved beads, although the patterns do seem to be somewhat carved rather than stamped.

Two pictures showing what appears to be a sort of grainy molded wax or plastic, and an cloisonne elephant with what feels like some sort of polymer clay or something. Underneath the tough outer layer is what behaves exactly like red wax - I can easily poke a needle into it, them smooth away the hole and other marks with my fingernail.

No idea what this stuff is, but it's not lacquer.

A close-up of one of the waxy areas on the elephant.

All these pictures are available in bigger megabyte versions, so if anyone wants to zoom in on details, send me your email address and I'll wing you the bigger files.

http://www.lifeweek.com.cn/2008/0128/20676.shtml

And the absence of layers of lacquer.

Continuing my perverse fascination with these necklaces, recently found another one on eBay, with two deteriorated "cinnabar" beads.

I removed the two charms missing their brass bob dangles and the icky cinnabar beads, and re-positioned the salvaged elements.

Then I took an exacto-knife to the smaller melted bead. The substance is so soft I can press a fingernail into it, and just being warmed in my hand was enough that I could feel the whole thing give under pressure.

The larger bead seems to show some traces of the original layered application of the goo, unless the lines are artifacts of a toothed carving tool. Note how the lower levels of the goo have melted, and seem to ooze like lava.

Anyone willing to take a guess as to what this stuff is, and whether the red color comes from rust or from vermilion?

Rosanna says a materials analysis starts at $75, and I can't really see paying that for what are, at bottom, junky old beads.

The original necklace, and the reconstructed version.

Chris,
You are right in that it doesn't make sense to have anyone analyze the goo. If it' a complex mixture the analysis would be very tedious, and far more than $75. While it would be interesting to know what went into the goo, I don't think its worth much effort.

Based on your research into this type of material - layered paints or lacquers of various compositions - I suspect one of the following scenarios:

1) the beads are fairly recent, and made from an inexpensive concoction, applied in layers, with some layers not cured properly (usually this is due to poor mixing of the ingredients)- so they are still soft.
2) the beads are older, and made from a mixture that includes a polymer that has partially "reverted" or depolymerized to its more liquid components. This was a problem with some early polyurethanes (maybe up to the 1980s).
3) some other degradation has happened due to moisture absorption, which will affect poorly cured materials as well as some older plastics like Celluloid.

Any idea how old these beauties are?

Rosanna -

Pretty sure they date to around the 1930s - give a decade either way. The line inscribed inside the scroll motif appears in early 20th century cinnabar, but never after WWII.

And it doesn't appear to be moisture that decomposes them so much as heat. And not much heat - body temperature alone seems enough to impart a shiny gloss.

Genuine urushi tree-sap lacquer has the curious feature that it requires a warm, humid environment for the sap to polymerize into a tough, resistant coating. I wonder if they added too much oil or wax to the sap, and it never cured properly? Oil or wax might account for the tendency of the stuff to melt under heat.

I've assembled a modest suite of photographs of auction offerings over the past few years that are making me wonder if these necklaces and bracelets were the products of one Chinese workshop. They all feature

-brass dangles,
-stone nuggets and small round beads either plain or carved with a shou character of turquoise, carnelian agate, jade, some sort of lapis or dyed jasper,
-splashy folk-art style cloisonne beads in an immediately recognizable design
-Chinese filigree work
-an odd assortment of what appear to be European? findings and chain, none of which resemble those connected with the Miriam Haskell atelier.

So I wonder, did these pre-date the Haskell designs and inspire them, or vice versa?

I think Florence owns this necklace.

One characteristic of these pieces is that the stones are real - the coral and turquoise and amethyst and carnelian etc are all stones, not plastic.

But the "cinnabar" seems to be that shiny, meltable stuff.

Rosanna -

The Japanese videos show a sequence of 57 (!) videos of the process for making a rice bowl, demonstrating how the thin wood base of the bowl is covered with a succession of base coats of lacquer, fine linen cloth attached with a mix of lacquer & rice glue, then a succession of layers of lacquer mixed with powdery sawdust, fine clay, with sanding between layers, until the final black and red layers are applied.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEaNCHxcN2Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TPmTYdh8oI

So I wonder if the Chinese workshop that made these beads, presumably under stressful economic conditions the times being what they were, might have resorted to some economical sort of wax+ sawdust mixture for the base layer covering the wooden bead, with a few layers of actual red lacquer atop that? Could that account for the way the material seems to melt from the inside out? They overdid the wax?

I think the inner layers must be a different material as you speculate, but I think the material has degraded over the last 70 years rather than being gooey to start with. But we're drifting off into total speculation now...

With yet another example of that deteriorated cinnabar.

Plus the curious addition of two Venetian millefiori on the ends.

Item 232429798509

It's been listed for a few months now, I think. If it sells, will immediately list my two $35 specimens....

When first established, the Tokyo University of the Arts was known as the Tokyo Art School. Two courses – the Kyuushitsu Course and the Makie Course – were the precursors of what would later become consolidated into the Urushi-Art(Japanese Lacquer) Course.

http://www.geidai.ac.jp/english/art/crafts

Mixing actual mercury vermilion into lacquer:
(notice how it results in a paste that must be kneaded, then liquid lacquer is added in two more steps until a sort of thick syrup is achieved)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09fWbdlCrUs

Here the urushi is mixed with a rice flour pudding:

(And I love how he uses his little bamboo scraper to clean his bowls and spatula and not waste a drop)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IE7ir4hvmY

The first few minutes are of interest the way it shows how the lacquer sap is mixed with colorant and - something liquid? What?

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

There seem to be about 50-60 videos in this series. I recommend using the scroll button liberally, lest you find yourself gazing at a screen for ten minutes watching someone stir something. Skip to the action parts. [Unless, of course, you're baked and watching paint dry is just a fine way to chill as you work your way through a bag of cheetos]