Hi, welcome to the forum.
I got these in San Francisco in the early sixties when everyone else was wearing dyed seeds of many colors. Paula

First and second: some "Peking glass" made in Japan. I read somewhere that the Japanese imported Chinese glassmasters to run their bead factories. So when something says "Made in Japan" in fact it might be based on Chinese technology. Anyway, the Hands of the Hills catalog lists this style of bead as Peking Glass. These are from the 1950s.

Third: some Chinese crumb beads. This style is also listed as Peking glass by Tribal Eye, but I do not know the age.

Nancy

From the 1950s.

Wrong pic again, wish I could delete or edit the attachment. Sorry. Nancy

The Japanese did not "import Chinese glassmasters to run their bead factories."

This is a garbled statement from someone who clearly does not understand beadmaking and history.

In the early 20th C. (at a time when Japan was occupying China), the Japanese set-up glass-beadmaking factories in China—most likely to exploit cheap labor, and to facilitate the making of beads to be exported to "barbarian" people (which would have included the Ainu, "Chinese minorities"—and the Aleuts, and Inuit of North America and Siberia.

At this time, the Japanese had a much stronger and more dynamic tradition of glass-beadmaking, in terms of creating more than just plain furnace-wound beads (as the Chinese did). Japan would learn very little from China, in this arena. The Japanese had already developed lampworking (in their versions of Venetian styles), and proceeded to introduce this into China.

The designation, "Made in Japan," is a post-WWII phrase, that has nothing to do with the beads being discussed here. In fact, most of the "Made in Japan" beads are derived from the spread of recent Czech beadmaking traditions—and these beads look Czech and do not look Chinese.

It is unfortunate that such a short post should contain so much misinformation.

JDA.

These are new beads from China--I paid $10 for the strand. Since I collect blue flow glass, the beads seemed appropriate too.

Nancy

These were in my Japanese pot (OK, a Foldgers coffee can) so I assume they are Japanese--but I do not remember when or where I bought them.

Does anybody know for sure?

Nancy

They seem to have the typical chinese trail with sunburst decoration.
Thank you Nancy for posting various chinese beads.
Don'y you have any chinese court necklace? I would love to see them and I'll try to post mine in a few days.
Paeonia

Hi Paeonia,
A few Japanese or Chinese large necklace beads w/ reverse inside paintings. They are 40x40x25mm.
Patrick.

A string of Pink Chinese wound beads.

Another Japanese or Chinese reverse painting bead, 18x18mm. round.
Patrick.

Hi Jamey,
I did say Japanese or Chinese.Do you think Chinese ? See writting top left of the bird in first picture.
Patrick.

Ok.I did not know if they were made in China or Japan. Anyone know what the writting means ?
Thanks, Patrick

I believe these must be Chinese, early 20th c. The nice lady we got them from said they came to her in a small lot of related items, such as a nice sewing basket with two BIG glass rings, beads and tassel decorating the top which we also got.

I love melon beads, not the stripes but the ridges. Here are my Chinese melons:

1) mixed colors, transparent glass, each bead about 3/8 inch in diameter.
2) yellow melons, each bead about 7/8 inch in length.

I have a very large ( Chinese print on silk ? )
Can somebody translate this to english for me ...please ... really appreciate it ..
Thanks , Tibor

this are neither print nor silk

It is the paper copy ? of carved stone

called Bei Ta in chinese and has long history.

the stone is carved in the range of Daoguang late Qing Dyn

the figure is Su shi ,a Great Chinses poet in Song dyn

very chinese but hard to say when this copy is made

Here are mine. Maybe Ming or Qing, I am only guessing ! All 3 purchased in Fujian province, China.

Sallie

This set also purchased in Fujian. The tabular bead is very large about 4.5cm across. It is not pierced through but has double holes at the top and double holes at the bottom for attachement. The top bead is cap-like (? maybe wrong word ?) The beads are very heavy. Could this also be Ming ?

Thanks for looking and hope someone can throw more light on these beads.

Sallie

I saw a lot of forumites posting melons in the earlier posts and wondered whether my strand belongs to the same vintage ? My strand was purchased in Vietnam and the melons are very heavy.
I know that Vietnamese also make glass beads but perhaps these are Chinese ??

Sallie

Hi Sallie,

I don't think any of the beads you show are as early as Ming Dynasty. They would be Ching or even post-Ching. (A lot of decorated Chinese beads, spotted or whatever, are from as late as the 1930s.

The old glass beads that come out of Vietnam are Chinese beads, unless we are talking about really far back I time (much earlier than the Ming Dynasty).

The "pancake" or "cloud" bead is perforated—just not straight through. The elements you show were made for so-called "Mandarin chains," that were required by the Manchu as evidence of rank in the Ching Dynasty. So they cannot be Ming.

Cheers, Jamey

I bought these in Myanmar a couple of years ago.
Hendrik

I have so much Chinese stuff, it's difficult to know where to begin. (Not bragging, more like expressing my burden....)

Here are a few photos I came across while looking for something else.

This is a group of old Chinese silver amulets, such as were very popular in the 1970s when antiques from China began to come to us in great quantities.

This is a necklace of antique Chinese glass beads combined with coins ("cash") and French brass seedbeads. I made this in the early 1970s.

The glass beads are a wonderful color of translucent teal blue, that is slightly dichroic, and changes to a greenish-blue in transmitted light.

JDA.

I received this cloisonne bead as a gift in the early '70s. I spent several years gathering beads to compose with it, all reflecting the colors of the enamel. My goal was to find stone (or non-glass) beads that would match or compliment the enamel colors—and I included cinnabar, rose quartz, bone, sodalite, and every green or bluish-green beads I could find in matched pairs. Between the beads are East African brass disks (giryama), that represent the cloisonnes of the enamel bead.

As a Pisces, I collect all sorts of fish beads and pendants, but this is one of my favorites.

JDA.

I like very much the match of the colored stones and the rythme of them with your cloisonne. A very delicate vibration of colours !
Paeonia

First one, I found on the sidewalk. Second at the fly market.

I bought this great porcelain bead depicting a dragon (and smaller matching beads) from a store called Fillia on the fringe of Chinatown, San Francisco, in the late 1970s. As much as I love it, it has never been in a successful necklace, and still waits for a home....

This picture shows several views of the hollow slip-cast and hand-painted bead.

JDA.

What are the ingredients or pigments they used in China to get their typical colours of blue, yellow, pink, red, etc in their glass beads?
Sorry for extending the subject, but I was always intrigued by their colours. Thank you for your comments.
Paeonia

Hello Paeonia,

I believe the Chinese used fairly conventional mineral oxides, such as any glassworks would use. Cobalt for dark blue, manganese for pink, etc. I believe their red glass was most likely imported, as was the avventurina (at least initially).

A story circulates that the Chinese colored their glass with ground up precious stones. (Similar things are sometimes said about Persian/Afghan enamels). This is not true at all, of course.

Jamey