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Those Japanese cloisonne beads on inro cord
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Posted by: beadiste Post Reply
10/29/2017, 14:09:15

The recent Bonham's auction on samurai items prompted me to take a closer look at a 12-inch plate in my collection, of a samurai's saddle, weapon, armor in a brocade pattern surround. The black portions of the poles for the naginata and banner show a fine glitter of goldstone, so likely the plate dates to post-1880s.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the beads is that the background of many of them is a chocolate brown enamel not seen in Chinese cloisonne.

The motifs in the beads are not as finely detailed as the plate's border, but one can see similarities in the little shapes, such as the tiny triangles. The enamel colors and the overall finish seems comparable, such as the use of pink.

I still wonder for whom or for what reason these beads were made. There's 29 of them, and the somewhat grimy cord appears to have been broken and re-knotted in a couple of spots. Maybe there were more beads at one time...

SAM_8313BCN.jpg (248.4 KB)  SAM_8318_(4)BCN.jpg (242.7 KB)  


Modified by beadiste at Sun, Oct 29, 2017, 14:11:03

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Please show close up views of beads and apertures. How old do you think they are?
Re: Those Japanese cloisonne beads on inro cord -- beadiste Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Frederick II Post Reply
10/30/2017, 21:25:40



Modified by Frederick II at Mon, Oct 30, 2017, 21:26:34

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Closeups
Re: Those Japanese cloisonne beads on inro cord -- beadiste Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: beadiste Post Reply
10/31/2017, 08:39:23

Note the precision with which the little motifs are placed.

Plus, they're so uniform, despite being so tiny, and lacking in seams, I wonder how they were made?

Two of the beads show the two-color petal infill, one in red and white, another in yellow with traces of green.

I don't think they're newer than the 1880s. The enamels seem a bit better than what was used before 1875, but not as good as what was in use in the 1890s. They seem far more carefully made than commercial pieces from the 1890s and after. So that's the 15 year time frame I'd put them in.

SAM_8307_-_Copy_-_Copy.JPG (156.2 KB)  SAM_8307_-_Copy.JPG (244.5 KB)  


Modified by beadiste at Tue, Oct 31, 2017, 08:46:50

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Can you show examples of Japanese cloisonné "commercial pieces (beads) from the 1890s and after?"
Re: Closeups -- beadiste Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Frederick II Post Reply
10/31/2017, 15:11:55



Modified by Frederick II at Tue, Oct 31, 2017, 15:34:25

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Inaba cloisonne yatate from Dorothy Ferster collection
Re: Can you show examples of Japanese cloisonné "commercial pieces (beads) from the 1890s and after?" -- Frederick II Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: beadiste Post Reply
10/31/2017, 23:11:19

Inaba company founded 1886. I see a lot of similarities in the motifs and enamels in this case.

InabaBrushCaseDorthyFersterCollection.jpg (193.3 KB)  InabaBrushCaseDorthyFersterCollectionA.jpg (127.2 KB)  


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Stuff like this?
Re: Can you show examples of Japanese cloisonné "commercial pieces (beads) from the 1890s and after?" -- Frederick II Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: beadiste Post Reply
11/01/2017, 12:54:45

Fredric Schneider's book shows, on page 83, an old 1907 stereoview of a cloisonne workshop showing rows of young women and girls filling in the enamel powders, the slide titled,

"4081 Young girls enamelling cheap Cloisonne (mother teaching her child, in foreground, Takatani factory,Kyoto, Japan, Copyright 1907."

Schneider discusses these lesser-quality manufacturers from the 1870s-onward, including "the prisons of Tokio."

SloppyWorkA.jpg (243.3 KB)  


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Gonna get rid of the red cord - got an opinion on other cord?
Re: Those Japanese cloisonne beads on inro cord -- beadiste Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: beadiste Post Reply
11/01/2017, 16:30:57

Color?

Weave?

I was thinking just plain ol' coffee brown 4mm diamond weave...too boring?



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Sigh... of course, the cords I liked best are $60 for 5 feet...
Re: Gonna get rid of the red cord - got an opinion on other cord? -- beadiste Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: beadiste Post Reply
11/01/2017, 16:53:47



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Colorwise, I would vote for #s 82 or 85.
Re: Sigh... of course, the cords I liked best are $60 for 5 feet... -- beadiste Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: lindabd Post Reply
11/01/2017, 17:13:05



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They are probably out of stock anyway. Perhaps, you may want to try dyeing what you have.
Re: Sigh... of course, the cords I liked best are $60 for 5 feet... -- beadiste Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Frederick II Post Reply
11/01/2017, 20:16:34



Modified by Frederick II at Wed, Nov 01, 2017, 20:18:15

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I vote for 93 or another muted yellow
Re: Sigh... of course, the cords I liked best are $60 for 5 feet... -- beadiste Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: jrj Post Reply
11/01/2017, 22:24:03



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Wow, check out this slide/video show on Japanese silk cords
Re: Those Japanese cloisonne beads on inro cord -- beadiste Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: beadiste Post Reply
11/02/2017, 11:59:16



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