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My Recent Trip to New York
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Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 02:09:09

As most of you know, this past month I made a trip to New York, to have a few meetings with Lois Dubin—working with her on a revision of The History of Beads, to be released in late 2009. While I was there, I also met up with a couple of Forum members, and did some beady stuff—including bead shopping and seeing exhibits at The Met.

I snapped photos until I ran out of digital space on my camera. I trashed bad shots, and continued shooting until I ran out again.

I'll post some images here.

To set the scene, I found that hotels in NY have become so expensive, it's difficult to find one in NYC that doesn't cost an excessive amount of money. I managed to find a hotel in Long Island City—this location being close to NYC, and only a ten-minute subway ride away. So that's where I resided for six nights.

This is a photo of my hotel, with a close-up. See the little A-frame architectural peak with a window at the top? That was my room.

Jamey

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The View
Re: My Recent Trip to New York -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 02:13:57

Looking out of my window, the hotel is next to a local Catholic cemetery. I find cemeteries very picturesque—so I often take photographs of them. Here's also a view of my room, looking toward that window. Note the sharp angle of the A-frame ceiling. I called this room the "penthouse suite," though it was more like a charming attic.

JDA.

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My First day in NYC
Re: My Recent Trip to New York -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 02:16:59

I took the subway to NYC, met Lois at her apartment, and we went right to work. Lois apologized for her apartment being "messy," but it really wasn't—but I'm not going to show it anyway. Here's the view out of her window on the 21st floor.

JDA.

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Red Avventurina
Re: My First day in NYC -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 02:21:25

Lois showed me a strand of beads that I thought was very beautiful—that consist of avventurina glass (jazzy-looking Venetian glass with metallic sparkles), overlaid with a veneer of red glass. I shot a photo, because I have been working toward an article on avventurina for about twenty years. Plus, I have some red avventurina Venetian glass beads—but mine are very different.

Here's a shot and a close-up in a different light. Looking carefully, maybe you can see that the beads are yellow in the interior, with a thin red coat on the surface, and avventurina in between.

JDA.

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Bead Shopping
Re: My Recent Trip to New York -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 02:26:55

When Lois and I finished our work after a few days, I rode into NYC and met Rachel at Leekan Designs, a bead store owned and operated by Paddy Kan and Annie Lee (featured in Ornament magazine some years ago, and sometimes seen at various bead shows). I always like to see Paddy and Annie, because they bring in great stuff from China and parts of Asia, and usually have things I haven't seen elsewhere.

Here's a shot taken in the store, showing one of the nice displays—where beads are evident. Followed by one of the huge wall displays of beads in the bead area.

JDA.

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Rachel
Re: Bead Shopping -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 02:31:28

Rachel hates having her picture taken, so I'm not going to show many of her. But this is also in the store, while we were walking around selecting beads to purchase.

As a Pisces, I collect fish beads (like you cannot believe....). I found this large Chinese porcelain bead with two carps on it—one black and one orange/golden. It is so big, I suspect it was made to be something like a scroll weight. I was off to a good start.

JDA.

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New Chinese Millefiori
Re: Bead Shopping -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 02:40:08

About a year and a half ago, I predicted that the future of Chinese millefiori would be more-conventional lampworked beads (as opposed to the lapidary-made beads that have become commonplace over the past five years or so). And now they are coming into the marketplace, as I demonstrated a few months ago.

Here are two beads I bought at Leekan that I thought were enticing. Oddly though, I spaced out and got distracted by something else. I intended to buy one of each pattern they have, but I only grabbed these two.

The bead on the left has canes that look like sun flowers—and these are dispersed in two levels. They're on the base glass, that then has a coat of clear glass over it, followed by more flower canes and an outer coat of clear glass. So the dimensionality of the bead is interesting, making it look something like a very small paperweight.

The right bead has three rows of millefiori canes, each a different pattern, on a blue ground. These canes look something like Japanese millefiori, and like some Islamic Period beads—though I wouldn't call the bead a copy of either. It is also clear-coated (like a small paperweight).

JDA.

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Stone Beads
Re: Bead Shopping -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 02:50:16

Chinese beadmakers crank-out an incredible variety of stone beads—and I am a sucker for them. In many instances, the stones are not natural (but are treated) and may not be "stone" (but rather are glass), but the work invested in them can be impressive.

Here's a shot of five carved stone beads, consisting of red jasper, green "jade," and yellow "jade." The jasper beads are probably natural, because this material is not uncommon nor expensive. The beads are cut with a "basket" effect. The green bead may be jade (or some variety of yu), and is interesting for having been made squat and hollow. When I got it home, I found it has a tiny carved fish on it—which was a plus. The "yellow jade" beads are either some yellow jade-like stone, or some stone colored yellow. But it is not true yellow jade (jadeite). This is a very commonplace misrepresentation—and apparently one that not many people care about.

The lower photograph shows four small cylindrical new zi beads, made for the Tibetan market. As most of you know, I have collected fake and repro zi beads for about thirty years. I always look forward to seeing what's going to come out next....

JDA.

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"Citrine" and "Yellow jade"
Re: Bead Shopping -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 02:57:03

The upper beads seen here were tagged "citrine," although they are nothing more than bright yellow glass, that has been lapidary-worked into fantastic beads. The spheroids are fairly precisely faceted, in a style that rivals Swarovski. They are so sparkly and reflective, they are difficult to photograph. It's not my style of beads (to wear), but I thought they looked as much like top-quality amber beads (more so than citrine), so I thought I ought to buy them. They were sort of expensive for glass, but very cheap for stone—so I was not surprised to find they are in fact glass. (Tiny air bubbles.)

The lower bead, seen from two views, is another carved yellow stone, that would probably be called "yellow jade" in the bead trade. Whatever its actual material, the carving and coloration are very attractive.

JDA.

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Dark Agate Beads
Re: Bead Shopping -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 03:01:21

The upper left bead seen here is impressive because the cutting has made it functionally hollow. It has so many drillings, from different angles, the inner material has been excavated out. The external shape is a large tabular with a round profile, exhibiting a Chinese character. I selected two smaller carved beads of the same color to go with it. I think that I bought some similar beads (in terms of color) at Tucson earlier this year—so I assumed all these would go well together.

The other pair of agate beads are variegated brown, and I just thought were a handsome pair.

JDA.

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Carved Bone
Re: Bead Shopping -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 03:08:09

It's no surprise that skull beads and anything depicting the skeleton have become popular across America (and perhaps the world). The origins of this lay in customs from as far afield as Tibet and México, and were taken up by bikers in the '60s, hippies in the '70s, goths in the '90s, and now by lots of kids.

Although I finally made "my skull necklace" this past year, I cannot resist continuing to buy skull stuff as it appears in the bead marketplace. Here's an entire skeleton, rendered from bone.

The second bone piece is a flat carved plaque, that reminds me of traditional Indian or Persian carvings or ornaments (sometimes metal), seen in the folk art of antiquity and into modern times.

Both, I assume, are Chinese.

JDA.

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Carved Carnelian and Glass
Re: Bead Shopping -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 03:15:25

I don't know why I collect beads and ornaments that feature butterflies—but I am a sucker for them too. So many traditional Chinese ornaments depict butterflies, it's not hard to develop quite a cache....

This is a shot of a small carnelian butterfly. The material is a bright orangy red that practically glows.

The second group consists of glass of different colors, imitating popular decorative stones, carved into spheroidal beads. That anyone would take the time to carve glass to make it look like stone is still remarkable—though this is done every day with cameo glass beads and ornaments. I bought four of each color, to have a specimen collection. I'll probably put these with some nice cameo-glass beads.

JDA.

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P.S.—The carnelian piece might be a cicada (!).
Re: Carved Carnelian and Glass -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
12/09/2019, 06:40:43



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Enamel and Gold Coral
Re: Bead Shopping -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 03:20:51

The final two shots from Leekan are a group of enamel beads, and a bracelet of gold coral.

I have likewise collected Chinese enamel beads since the 1970s, both antique and modern types. I am always intrigued by the design work, use of color, and the skill invested in these small articles.

The gold coral bracelet is clever, as it's made from relatively straight branches that have been double perforated across their girth, and then strung on elastic. It is a very easy way to make a very attractive bracelet.

This concludes the stuff from Leekan.

JDA.

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Visiting Bully
Re: My Recent Trip to New York -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 03:31:39

Rachel and I departed from Leekan, and went to have Ethiopian food for a late lunch—which was fantastic. We then took the subway over to meet Bully Jawara, at his storage facility. I had not really hung out with Bully prior to this time. I met his brother Denbo in Ivory Coast, ten years ago, and I have seen Bully at the Tucson show, but this was the first time we had spent much time talking.

Many times, people have told be about Bully's storage room in NYC where he keeps his inventory. It's not a huge room, but it is filled with scads of African beads. I am always interested to see bead inventories—and one never knows what new (or old) and exciting thing will materialize. Plus, I was on an errand for Lois—so I was a man with a mission.

Rachel asked Bully about this fabulous necklace of furoca beads (made at Venice in the 1920s). It is such a beautiful piece, I tried to take a shot of it—and only came up with this, which is OK.

Then, I asked Bully to wear it, and I took a shot of him—as we see here.

JDA.

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Bully's Beads
Re: Visiting Bully -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 03:34:32

Here's another shot of Rachel, looking nervous because I have aimed a camera at her. Note the rows and rows of beads on the wall. The next shot is more of the same.

JDA.

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More Beads
Re: Bully's Beads -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 03:36:24

Here we see another part of the wall, followed by a close-up of some large brass beads that caught my eye.

JDA.

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And More Beads
Re: Bully's Beads -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 03:41:04

Here, we see a group of strands of chevron and similar beads from Venice—most being from the hands of Luigi Cattelan. Some are rather large lampwork beads.

On a different wall, I spotted these hanks of old Czech snake beads—and I zeroed in on the group of purple ones. For the life of me, even though I cannot recall ever seeing violet snake beads before—and this is my favorite color—for some bizarre reason I didn't buy any. What was I thinking? I am going to have to deal with that before Tucson next year....

JDA.

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Love the snakes!
Re: And More Beads -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Luann Udell Post Reply
09/09/2008, 17:13:31

I bought a bunch of mixed strands from Picard's earlier this year, and one is very close to these purple ones. Also orange, two shades of yellow, gray, some of the turquoise shown here, etc. Ruth said they were vintage stock from the '70's, I believe. Is that possible? I love them very much!


Luann Udell artist & writer Ancient stories retold in modern artifacts LuannUdell.com

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Chevron Beads
Re: Bully's Beads -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 03:52:22

Since I have collected chevron beads from the early 1970s, with an aim to compose a major book on this topic, I always look through groups of chevron beads, looking for something different.

And then I spotted this strand. At first glance, it may not seem remarkable. Just some small conventional blue Venetian chevron/star beads. However, I noticed right away that this strand includes a section where most of the beads are not the regular translucent bright blue glass on their exteriors, but rather have a distinctive and unusual OPAQUE medium-blue tone. I had documented occasional specimens of these beads in the past; but I had never seen a group of small ones.

So I snapped them up....

JDA.

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Chevron Bead Details
Re: Chevron Beads -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 03:57:01

Here's we can see two shots of these opaque blue chevron beads, close up. The upper shot shows the regular beads in contrast to the opaque blue beads. The lower image shows their typical cross section—this being the conventional six-layer design with a white base layer (as made continuously for most of the 20th century).

That's all for today. In a few days, when I have some more free time, I will try to compose the Jpegs from the rest of my trip—meaning my afternoon with Adele at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

I hope this has been fun.

Jamey

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It has been great fun. Looking forward to more.
Re: Chevron Bead Details -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Logan Post Reply
09/10/2008, 03:54:30



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Re: Bully's Beads
Re: Bully's Beads -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: htide Post Reply
09/09/2008, 10:21:22

HOLY COW. Man would i love to see them up close. Then again I got a little crazy just seeing abduls selection last week. I might just lose my mind if i get too close to all of that.



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Re: Visiting Bully, Furoca beads, Wow!
Re: Visiting Bully -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: adjichristine Post Reply
09/09/2008, 04:38:25

Is it a secret what this fantastic strand would sell for???/



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I don't recall the exact figure. It was a lot, but not crazy. Rachel will know.
Re: Re: Visiting Bully, Furoca beads, Wow! -- adjichristine Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 05:49:43



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That depends on your definition of "crazy"
Re: Re: Visiting Bully, Furoca beads, Wow! -- adjichristine Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: sisterray Post Reply
09/09/2008, 12:20:41

$4000



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Re: That depends on your definition of "crazy", Gulp!! Crazy!!!!
Re: That depends on your definition of "crazy" -- sisterray Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: adjichristine Post Reply
09/09/2008, 14:47:04

If, I take all of my liberty necklaces apart, I would have at least three to five strands like this! Nice!



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20 beads that we can see...
Re: That depends on your definition of "crazy" -- sisterray Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Joyce Post Reply
09/09/2008, 15:45:41

That's 200.00 each, reasonable enough to resell the beads individually, at some point. At Tucson '07 I saw a damaged one priced at 600.00. I know, this doesn't mean it sold. But if red feather beads (used to be called the "common feather") can now sell 2 for 129.00, see ebay 250283305592.....



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Re: 20 beads that we can see... Hey, your right! Does anyone want to---------
Re: 20 beads that we can see... -- Joyce Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: adjichristine Post Reply
09/09/2008, 16:08:27

buy mine???? (smile)$4000 would buy a whole lot of gas!!!



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Now, now, Christine...
Re: Re: 20 beads that we can see... Hey, your right! Does anyone want to--------- -- adjichristine Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Logan Post Reply
09/10/2008, 03:55:57

You'd just use the gas to go drive to some other bead fest! (grin)



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Thanks, sistah.
Re: That depends on your definition of "crazy" -- sisterray Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/11/2008, 02:33:30



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Great travelogue Jamey, thank you.
Re: My Recent Trip to New York -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Joyce Post Reply
09/09/2008, 15:49:49

I love it when folks show us a part of their travels. The little attic room looks perfect. Leekan's looks like a lot of fun, I am glad that you and Rachel got together. And Bully's room - I am sure he spends a lot of time there. His strands are always of such uniform length, and neatly done. His presentation is superb. We happily await the "History of Beads" new edition!



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Thank YOU!
Re: Great travelogue Jamey, thank you. -- Joyce Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/09/2008, 16:07:48



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Yes, this was a great show!
Re: My Recent Trip to New York -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Luann Udell Post Reply
09/09/2008, 17:17:10

Much more fun than cleaning my attic & studio....
Thank you for the quick virtual trip to NYC, Jamey, and the view of Bully's collection--outstanding!

Luann Udell artist & writer Ancient stories retold in modern artifacts LuannUdell.com

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Thank you....
Re: My Recent Trip to New York -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: TASART Post Reply
09/09/2008, 20:48:43

Jamey thank you for taking the time to edit and post your trip, I hope you had a great time there! Rachel is another world class collector who's beads I often covet!!! Hi Rachel! Bully is one of the few African Traders that is also a collector of beads, something unusual in his profession, he always has top quality beads from all genres, typically the highest quality African traded beads in Tucson at the shows!



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When in Soho NY...
Re: My Recent Trip to New York -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Stefany Tomalin Post Reply
09/09/2008, 23:33:16

Dear Jamey

And I hope you went round the corner from Leekan to look at the much celebrated Longchamps flagship store which my son designed, his first project in USA!
Stefany



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One of many Links...
Re: When in Soho NY... -- Stefany Tomalin Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Stefany Tomalin Post Reply
09/09/2008, 23:38:34


Related link: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3575/is_1314_220/ai_n26977301

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Link to images of the Spring Street store
Re: One of many Links... -- Stefany Tomalin Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Stefany Tomalin Post Reply
09/10/2008, 00:00:53


Related link: The Longchamps staircase

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I wish I had known. It's fantastic! Congrats to Tom.
Re: When in Soho NY... -- Stefany Tomalin Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Beadman Post Reply
09/10/2008, 02:08:45



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Wow! I'll head over there soon
Re: When in Soho NY... -- Stefany Tomalin Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: sisterray Post Reply
09/10/2008, 14:30:16

It looks really spectacular!
Rachel



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Thanks for sharing!
Re: My Recent Trip to New York -- Beadman Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Barbara Post Reply
09/11/2008, 02:54:51



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