Beads were not the only things examined at dinner. These pieces of amazonite were somewhat translucent. The color, we were told, was even better in sunlight.

Bassem took care of the financial details after we were given the single check for 15 people. This was subject to an unusual amount of scrutiny by his table mates.

I'll try to get more pictures during the week. It's hard to talk and look at beads and remember to get snapshots, too.

I'm glad you asked, Jamey.
Why, the stone in the pictures I forgot to attach, of course.
Let me try again, now, after a few hours of sleep.

I don't know how Bassem does it? He picks up the tab, gets everyone to pitch in a little bit and walks out with a profit, the guy is a natural dealer!!! It was a fun and informative evening!

Did Bassem get out of there with all of that cash? It looks as though the Big Bruiser was ready to run off with it.

I am so glad that so many forumites went to Marisco's. Bassem called me and I tried to talk with a few people, but there was a lot of noise and we couldn't understand each other very well. But the good vibes were there for sure! Please try to show the amazonite and whatever other images!

I had a great time, meeting wonderful people! Peter who does not really care for beads much, but really enjoyed himself too.
The internet in our hotel is sketchy at best, so pictures will probably have to to wait till I get back in two weeks time.
Tomorrow, we're off to the African village. The weather is African enough for it!

We're also having a wonderful visit in Tucson and send regards to BCNers who are living vicariously. I had fun at dinner last night, and it was great to trade milles with Floor. I promise, Floor, that none of my trades were "Chinetian" beads!

The weather here is the best that I recall in about 7-8 years. And after leaving frigid DC, this is paradise.

Photos when I return home in a few days.
Paula

I love it, Paula, "Chinetian"!

I must credit the Sunshine brothers, owners of General Bead in San Diego and San Francisco, with "Chinovski" for Chinese crystal beads!

... well, we're not about coins, right? (grin)

A fresh carload of Chinetian millefiori beads seems to have been delivered yesterday! When I stopped by on Monday there were very few strands left and yesterday they were plentiful!

Hands of the Hills has some even less expensive strands of Indonesian milles, and some very scary feather bead reproductions, also for under $20

There were several new vendors at African Village this year.
If you have a copy of the Ghana Bead Society published "The Bead Is COnstant" check out the picture of Hudo Moro. He had a booth on the 3rd row with some bead inlaid folding tables, a massive Tuareg trunk and many beads. I should have taken pictures but we talked to much. He's hoping to arrange a 2nd printing of "The Bead Is Constant."

Oumar Cisse from Mali had wonderful painted necklace display boards similar to the hand painted hair salon signs seen in many parts of Africa. Again some pictures would have been nice. You can see him at his website http://www.farafina-tigne.com/home.html

I showed the new Chinese millefiori beads to most of the vendors. There was some dismay.....

On the other hand, I spoke to the man bringing the Chinese millefiori into the US. He said the raffia is African raffia that someone brought to Guangzhou so that it is available for stringing beads in China. This is possibly supplied to the Chinese by one of the African traders who visits China?

Hi Russ,

I believe the book you are referring to is "The Bead is Constant" - here's the link to it at your site, but it's out of stock. It's hard to get now, as it apparently was printed just once. I think Carole Morris' husband had something to do with it too (perhaps the cover?) and I got it when it was first available from her - at her site Spangles (on our links page).

Anyway, the book did make quite a splash with the people it did reach...I showed mine to Abdul and there was a dealer in it he knew quite well.

Amazon no longer has it either.

Would the dealer whose link you provided be the one known as "Peace Corps Baba"?

African Village sounds like even more a visual delight than usual - I'm hoping that there will be pictures....

I'm off to the African village in a couple of hours for the first time.
Definately will try to remenber to take pictures. It sounds like a great place.
Btw, there is also at book that's called The bead goes on, but that one is made up of a collection of sample cards of venetian beads.

Hi Floor! Absolutely! There was a lot of excitement about that one when it first came out too - the hi res images of the bead sample cards are great - and it's an important history of Sick & Co. Since the Tropenmuseum is in Amsterdam, I imagine you have seen it "in person"?

Kinda neat - I Googled the book title, and Tropenmuseum, and the first 2 listings to come up were BCN discussions about it...

I had a great time in the African Village. It was very quiet, very few buyers. I think the sellers are going to have a hard time. We were there round eleven in the morning, and I think there were more sellers than customers. One asked for a bail out package.
Anyway, I bought plenty of beads. Even Peter who does not care much for beads got a strand: the actual snake vertebrae. Now we're wondering if we're allowed to take them into the Netherlands......
I also asked him to take some pictures, which he did.
First ones show some of the tables of one seller. Second picture is of chinese beads, really big ones!

More form the African village

This seller (at another show) had wonderful silver beads from India and other countries.
The second picture is of what he called a camel necklace, with huge beads.

Although my visit to Tucson this year was not bead related I did manage to visit a few of the shows. Just could not resist.

This particular vendor had some quality old ethnic silver pieces. I was particularly impressed with the Camel Necklace (actual necklace for a camel....he also had a similarly nice Horse Necklace). The detailed craftmanship was incredible.

Thanks for posting these images.

Carl

The gorgeous silver beads were at the Pueblo Gem & Mineral show. Rusty Glicksman from Earth door Sky door. In the court pavillion, booth 73.
He was very kind and helpful. In the last few years I have mostly been buying online. It is so nice to talk to the sellers, hear their stories and share their passion!

Floor, glad that you found Rusty at the Pueblo. I first found him at the Watertown, Massachusetts show about 12 years ago and encouraged him to come to our DC bazaar. He's been one of our most successful vendors for all these years. Nice guy and very knowledgeable.

We're off to Best Bead today.

Paula

I came to the shows with a shopping list, both for myself and for my small business. I have bought quite a few beads I am really pleased with, and happy with the prices as well.

Here's some millefiori's I got, both from the Picards and from the Rodeway.

Some new dzi style and etched agate beads, and walrus teeth.

Some moon discs, snake beads and vinyl beads, and mixed little 'djenne dig' glass beads. There are some tiny eye beads with the glass beads, which I may show once I get back if I can take a proper picture of them.

Some Bohemian opalite glass and three coloured annulars.
If anyone could tell me how old the opalite should be, I'd appreciate it.
And with all the talk about annulars. They look old to me (with just a few exceptions), but I had not seen the light purple colour before,

Final ones: mock coral from Nigeria (seller told me 300 years old, could that be true?) and heishi ostrich shell, and the second picture the little silver beads and pendants I got from the seller I showed pictures of before. Enough for some inspiring necklaces!

There is no evidence for powderglass beadmaking in West Africa before about 150 years ago at the earliest, that I know about. Most of the beads we are familiar with are 20th C. beads.

Jamey

At the Holidome I ran into Mahamadou Sumareh from Djenne beads and art. And apart form sharing stories about Djenne, Mali and Ramadan, he had some great beads to show us.
Long strands of islamic mixed with venetians. Definately worth to have a look at!

The pictures I am showing are of his booth. He has a website, but it's not really up and running right now.

I like the 'bumpy bead'.

No pictures, but for anyone still in Tucson, I recommend seeing Indra Man Sunuwar from Nepali Bazaar Co, who is at booth 232 at the JGX show across the AGTA.
He had an amazing collection of Islamic and Roman beads. It was pretty clear I could not afford them, but he was still very keen to show me his most wonderful strands.
I never asked how much they were, but he had a strand of Roman mosaic beads to die for.
He has no website, but if anyone needs it, I have his contact information.

HI Floor,

I met M. Sumareh 2 years ago in African Village. A very tall man, charming and beautifully dressed in colorful gear! He had one of the most attractive business cards of any bead dealer I've ever seen. Last year an old coworker of mine spent a couple of days in Detroit and found his store. M. Sumareh remembered me - I was flattered.

Could not link to his site, but here is contact info for bead people who may be in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

Djenne Beads & Art
1045 Beaubien St Ste 153
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 965-6620

Mohamadou Sumareh is in Tucson this year exhibiting at the Holidome, almost behind the Rings & Things booth. I was helping him today set up some extra lights. When you get into the 2nd Holidome tent, look up for the giant silver balloons floating above the Rings & Things booth. Go behind the Ring & Thing booth and turn right (north) and you will be at the Djenne Beads and Art booth.

Here's a photo of those balloons, my staff and, peeking from behind the balloons, yours truly.

Great strands. I found myself studying each bead like I was there myself checking each one. Sigh! Wish you would have gotten pictures of the early Islamic beads for all us poor beings that can't afford them but would love to see them. Thought i would include a picture of my "bumpy beads" since you said you liked them.

About pictures.....
The show he was at was a more 'high end' show, and no camera's were allowed.
I may be going back tomorrow.....
He had a strand of little broken pieces of islamics and roman ones I am considering buying.
I may sneak my camera in, and see if he's okay with me taking some pictures.

Hello Floor,

I have to take exception to the name "opalite," for these beads, since this should refer to a mineral. The beads are made from girasole glass. Likewise your "moon disks" should also be called this. ("Moon beads" are called by that name because they are big spheroidal beads. Smaller non-spheroidal beads are not "moon beads.") Your question about "how old opalite should be" is sort of nonsensical. Do you want to know a typical age for these beads? I would guess ca. 1920s + or -.

I hope this helps. Jamey

Sometimes it gets confusing, especially when English is not your first language.
In Dutch, literally translated I would call them opal glass, but most Dutch people call them moonstone, which I won't use for these because it definately confuses them with a mineral. I did not know that opalite was also a mineral.
However, I understand what you mean. Thank you.

I would have thought the powderglass beads to be older, so that surprises me. They do have a nice chunky worn look.

See item # 180325728380
"6mm Fire Opal Opalite Round Gemstone Loose Beads 15inch"

This all sounds so exciting for a 3.00 strand of Chinese glass beads. But this is how the term "opalite" has been popularized. The seller actually states the material is opal. A stand of pretty crummy genuine opal is 100.00.

This stuff is the same genre as "strawberry quartz","pineapple quartz", "raspberry quartz", etc...Most people realize it's glass, but not all.....you often don't even need your glasses to spot the air bubbles...

The internet really is just one aspect of the scammery...

I asked a little bead store girl a few years ago what her favorite stone was. She thought for a second...and said, "Pineapple quartz!".....I love how bead store owners train their staff!

Sad thing is, the stuff is shipped in piles from China with the labels in English already on the bunches of beads strung on 16" monofilament strands. "Opalite", etc....and it's easier for the bead store owners paying employees retail wages to make them leave the labels on than to educate them, and consequently the buying public. They don't want to work any harder for their 3 - 5X markup than they have to and in the short run they don't see the advantage of educating their customer base about the materials they are peddling. In the long run, they could educate and nurture a much higher standard of customer interest, and therefore be able to generate interest in much nicer and higher-end product.

Hey! Sorry about my ramblings. I have been pondering this stuff more than a short while.

Just to clarify - I don't hate the so-called "opalite" glass. It's not nearly as nice as antique Venetian moonbeads or opalescent Czech glass of various kinds. But it is pretty. But wishing the Chinese material was marketed in a more direct and honest way.

is a result of long exposure to u.v. light. I don't know specifically what is in the (originally clear) glass that makes it react that way - Jamey or Austin would know.

Hi Joyce,

Most beads that are purple or violet were made that color by intent. Formulas for violet glass have been widely known since the early 17th C. (thanks to Neri), and were produced as early as 2,000+ years ago.

It has been suggested that some glasses, because of their manganese content, will tend to turn reddish or violet over time. I don't know if this has been demonstrated or not.

Manganese oxide is added to glass to counter-act the strong tendency for glass to be green because of naturally occurring iron impurities. The iron makes the glass green; the manganese makes the glass reddish. Together, they neutralize one another, and make the glass more colorless. Traditionally, this application of manganese has been called "glass soap," because it "cleans" the glass.

A kitchen demonstration. I LOVE pesto and eat it (in something) nearly every day. Pesto is green, being made from fresh basil. A dish I enjoy making and eating is paste al pesto with shrimps and red peppers. The shrimps are pink and the peppers red. If you put these in pesto and cook them for a few minutes, the paste are no longer green....

Manganese is also a violet colorant for glass. It produces a muddy or brownish violet color on the red end of violet, but is probably combined with or otherwise manipulated to give a better color (purple being a desirable outcome, that few other colorants easily provide). I suppose it's possible that a surplus of manganese might unintentionally make some glasses tend to become reddish or purplish. However, I doubt the outcome would be the nice lavender purple we see in the beads in question.

Jamey

As per Jamey's discussion, it is likely Mn (in trace amounts and perhaps in the form on potassium permanganate) that has created this color. This compound (if used) will readily oxidize (tie up / bind) the ferrous constituents to produce the clear color; and with a very slight excess (10 to 25 ppm) over that need to "tame" the iron, it will result in a soft purple; if no iron is present, then concentrations less than the foregong will create the deeper purples. With a concentrations over 30 ppm in the presence of iron, a deep purple often results. There are a lot of exceptions to all of this depending upon the other trace metallic constituents. Hexavalent chromium (CrO3) can also create ranges from orange to a mud brown; however, with the cancer-causing properties of CrO3, it is often avoided. Hope that this hasn't created any confusion.

...is apparently a great way to destroy the value of an antique, according to this article in the attached link.

The second article [link at the bottom of the first] was also...well, I hesitate to use the word "entertaining," given the author's outrage...so I guess "informative" will have to do.

Although not researched by me, old "bottle-hounds" used to love the light purple of old glass bottles they occasionally found in old refuse piles up north where I grew up. And being a fan of purple, so did I, and still do! Folks also did it on purpose and in recent years an old family friend did with some strong u.v. artificial light. The article Chris posts is passionately against this, and I understand where they are coming from, wanting to preserve the items in their original form and color. But oh well, I love my lavender glass "gooseberries" that the Picards had made from Venetian cane that had sat outside for decades. I truly don't believe the gooseberry cane, nor the annulars, started out lavender. If not u.v., what made them lavender...? I also have some pale pink "gooseberries" from the African trade of the very same type as totally clear ones I have. Still mystified...

Hi Joyce,

I am reminded of the post I left a couple of years ago, where I said "turquoise is always opaque"—which is (or was) a defining truism for that gem material. I can cite mineral books that say this as a fact. But the point was not to say that "there's no such thing as translucent turquoise." The points were: 1) translucent blue-green materials are [mostly] not turquoise; and 2) translucent blue-green stones or glasses cannot be "turquoise colored"—but rather are "teal," because turquoise itself is not translucent (speaking of color dynamics).

Whereupon one of our members pointed out that turquoise had been found in a crystalline state, and the crystals were translucent—a phenomenon I was not aware of. However, this extremely RARE occurrence of turquoise does not modify the practicality of the "opaque rule" for 99.99% of occurrences in beadmaking. Nevertheless, in no time at all people are wondering 'maybe my translucent blue-green beads are crystalline turquoise'—when this would be so unlikely as to be practically ridiculous.

A PRACTICAL suggestion that is valid and useful for a great percentage of the time, is not a blanket statement saying "no such thing," nor even necessarily "too rare." It is a statement that says "too many people now think their purple beads are accidentally that color, because it's know that SOME glass can turn purple under certain circumstances—but most purple beads were made to be purple."

Another example: In the 19th C., for a short time, some US soldiers were trained to ride camels in the Southwest (I think was the location), and it is said that the four corners of the camel blankets MAY have held large chevron beads as weights. So lets calculate how many large chevron beads MIGHT be circulating from that temporary situation. Under a hundred would be a reasonable guess. Nevertheless, among collectors of American (context) trade beads, big chevron beads were often speculated to have "come from camel blankets." (See the article by Sorrensen in Arizona Highways, 1971.) There would have to have been hundreds of camels with blankets (if indeed any had chevron beads at all), for everyone who thinks he or she has one (assuming there is some percentage of loss that ought to be included in speculations). Reasonably, there would be MANY MORE chevron beads in the US (though they are fairly rare anyway) that came directly from Venice through trade relations; and then also via Africa, recently (probably misrepresented as "American Indian trade beads"), that are in the hands of collectors. But many collectors would like to believe the unlikely but romantic story they fancy.

That's all.

Jamey

What I found intriguing in the article about early pressed glass was the rather precise dating for managanese use as a glass decolorant - Civil War to around WWI, at which time selenium gained preference. In U.S. pressed glass, at least.

Thanks, Joyce,
Yes the book is "The Bead Is Constant." I corrected my original post. Posting late at night is not my best time, I fear.
"The Bead Is Constant" has been out of print for some time. I have an order in if they ever reprint it. Hudu Moro says he is agitating for a reprint. I told him I'll gladly take more.

You are also correct that Oumar Cisse is known as "Peace Corps Baba." I think his web site has been mentioned at BCN before. He greets visitors to his tent with a hearty "Welcome to Mali!"

Hi Joyce
I wish they had done a second print run!
Unfortunately the book has been out of print for some time now and we haven't been able to get any more.
Carole

I returned home last night and will post many photos on Sunday.

Here's a photo of Hudu, wearing his gigantic "Dogon" beads from Mali

He showed us these phenomenally large and expensive glass beads which he thought were very old Venetian. As John Picard was nearby, I dragged him over to take a look. John declared them as not old. Regardless, they were quite beautiful, though too pricey.

Here's another picture of Hudu with some pseudo "healed" beads of some amber looking material and a close up of the beads.

From a distance they looked fantastic but now I can see they are very "pseudo" repaired, "pseudo" amber, "pseudo" authentic.

Anybody know any more about these large millefiori beads?
Are they newer, but still Venetian?
Somehow, they remind me of the well made Indonesian ones as well.
If I make it to the village again, I'll have a look. The weather is very un-African, though.

Wow! Hudu must specialize in size LARGE!
The millefiori are pretty. I'd like to know the origin...India, China, Indonesia?

I looked closely at the milles. I'm pretty sure the cane slices are Venetian. But I'm not sure that the beads are Venetian made. Certainly they are not typically Venetian.

The body of the beads do match the cane colors. They are canes that were common on beads in the 60's and 70's. I think I've posted solid color tubes like this from my old sample boards in the past. That would suggest these beads were made after 1950 or so.

Thanks Russ, they're great looking. One as a focal would be quite nice.

Here's a photo of Baba at a DC Bazaar several years ago. That's Steve Parkes on the right.

Something I'd do if I were there is cop a stack of 25 or so and filter them to our African friends in African Village and Rodeway. Many of the African dealers may not know that African Village is featured in the current Ornament magazine, which always has one of it's editions out just in time for Tucson, with many ads within it for the Tucson shows. So, if anybody has the chance to do that, our African friends would appreciate it greatly, I am sure! The Ornaments are in piles at the main entrance to the Best Bead Show. And Bead and Button and Bead Style free copies are there too.

We were at Best Bead from 11-2. No Ornaments to be found. Maybe they were delivered later. The show was lovely as usual.. almost entirely lampwork and seed beads, plus Africa John with his gorgeous stone beads. I loved the work of the Japanese beadmakers above all.

I asked Bassem to get a bunch and pass to Ebrahim at Rodeway. Early this morning he got 2 copies as they were almost gone at that time, and gave them to Ebrahim. Perhaps the stash of promotional copies was smaller this year.

It has been wonderful to see all the photos, send more! Linda and I could not make it this year for opening week at Tucson, our teenage daughters had another event they/and we needed to attend instead. We missed you and lamented about what we were missing, quietly in between celebrating our daughters' wins. The thought of you all as Marisco's without us was hard to take. Sorry to have missed it!!!

Joy B.

Mussa visited us in DC a few years ago. He uses traditional designs in his very beautiful silver jewelry

Russ wearing a necklace designed by Ellen Benson, a BSGW colleague,
and Rachel examining fancies at Marisco's

Degumay showing me his complete strand of a speos, and a peek into his bucket of "pocket beads" (sorry for the poor quality.. bad lighting in the tent and I didn't want to use my flash)

We are mostly a single-minded bunch, but there are so many wonderful textiles and other artifacts at the African Village

We didn't spend much time at Best Bead this year. The Rodeway kept drawing us back. Here's a bead of Africa John, one of my favorite characters, and some unusual agates from China

Bob of Wind River has been collecting and selling beads and more from Yemen, Ethiopia and Morocco for many years. The Moroccan and Yemenite beads are now mine, but the necklace is still in Bob's case. If only my stimulus check had arrived last week... but even that would not have been enough. I've seen lots of Yemenite silver. This was the loveliest work I've ever seen.

Kathy & I bought and shared this Czech strand. The photo was taken in our hotel room before we cut it in half. ... followed by a closeup
We'd like to know more about when these beads were produced and for whom.

For all the fun photos. Beautiful Yemeni silver, and new Tuareg material too. Great to see everyone at Marisco's, too!

Mr Khan from Silk Road Beads from New York (Gem Mall booth 1313) was kind enough to show me these beads and he let me take some pictures. Enjoy!

He let me take some pictures of some of his best strands ( in my opinion anyway)
Next to me, a man was pondering buying a Dzi bead with a sizable pricetag. He was going to do some more thinking.

Here are a few nice typical Jatim. The seller (a Thai woman) at JOGS insisted they were from Thailand or maybe Burma. I didn't argue beyond suggesting they were from Java in Indonesia. She didn't try to claim they were ancient but was sure of their origin. The prices were relatively reasonable.

I know of several people who buy these beads in Bali or Java and sell them to vendors at Bangkok's Jatujak Market with various stories.

The larger are about 35x38mm

Hi Russ,

You must know this already. For around ten years now (if not longer), Indonesian jatim have been taken to Thailand, and sold from that location. Some people think they are "local" beads, and others know they are imported. Fakes are included too--and the same thing goes. Some know and admit the fakes are fake, and some don't. Some admit the fakes are not old, and some don't.

However, a seller who says a bead is "coming from Thailand" is not lying, if it does. The mistake in in assuming this means such beads were MADE there—which we know they were not. But LOTS of people have simple ideas about beads. And many people accept the stories they have been handed along with the beads.

When you say the prices are "reasonable," I assume you mean reasonable for reproductions (?).

Jamey

Yes, that's why I posted them and told her story. I know a couple of the people who buy beads in Bali and resell them in Thailand. I don't know what stories they sell with the beads. Considering what Thai sellers say I doubt that the folks who bring them to Thailand tell that they are made currently in Indonesia.

If I have a chance to go back to JOGS I'll ask the seller how old she claims for these jatim. I don't remember her saying they were particularly old. Except for African goods I rarely buy beads that are sold as "old."

The price was more than I'd pay in Bali (for new beads) but not unreasonable for new jatim sold in the US. Similar to prices for new beads from, for example, Happy Mango Beads.

In addition to the millefiori beads that Finfan showed last week, here are some fancies that Ebrahim Touray is offering

In August I posted a photo of these beads that I found in an antique shop. I asked if they could be ID'd as Venetian, or Chinese or Indian copies. The response was that they are Venetian.
Mine are the round beads. The bracelet is Chinese. On close scrutiny one can see the difference, but without direct one-on-one comparison it is a bit scary to the relative novice like me. Leave alone the complete novice

The more evident difference between your Chinese and Venetian beads is the presence in the Ventian ones of a very thin external layer in the original cane, which can be seen as a thin black line dividing the sigle murrine in the bead. In Venice I was told it's a long time they don't make canes with a very thin outer layer as it is a difficult and costly process.
Giorgio

Dear Giorgio,

The detail you mention that you were told at Venice is not credible. Placing a thin layer onto a cane—a process called "flashing" (in English) is not so difficult, and need not be costly. I am very surprised that anyone would say such a thing.

That the Venetian beads shown have this layer and the Chinese specimens do not is pertinent only in this instance. There are probably many Venetian black-&-white flower canes that do not have a micro-thin exterior black layer. So this is a circumstantial expression. I would be more inclined to pay attention to the colors of the glass and the art-sense of the canes; and the technique of beadmaking (particularly the presence or absence of mandrel release compound and perforation size). Also, though I haven't seen enough of these very new Chinese beads yet, my initial response is that the technique is "better" than that of many Venetian beads—in the sense that the cane elements are well-fused, and the ends of the beads are well-formed. It might be difficult to capture/reproduce the typical look of many Venetian millefiori beads, when the torchworking practices being promoted demand good fusion and well-formed ends.

Since this is very new work at China, we will have to continue to watch and see what develops.

Jamey

As copies of another's creativity and design I am totally turned off by them. I would be impressed if the Chinese bead makers had created their own original designs, they have a long history of artistic endeavour to draw upon. The fact that they are now strung on raffia completes the illusion and intent to deceive.

Judy,

Thanks for your candid opinion—although these bracelets are NOT strung on raffia at all.

The people who make these beads are most likely newly-trained in the craft of beadmaking. They are not life-long artisans who come with an art esthetic nor probably any perspective upon Chinese art history.

My remark was entirely limited to the fact that the beads in question are remarkably like the prototypes they copy—and they are light-years ahead of what was available from China even a year ago.

I feel pretty much the same way I felt twenty years ago when new copies of pumtek beads were made and circulated, that eventually evolved into a better level of skill than that of the older beads. They are remarkable, inexpensive, and fill a niche. This is the history of beads for over 5,000 years.

JDA.

Hi Jamey, I am sorry that you took this personally. I was referring only to the beads and not your opinion or feelings about them. I agree that the beads are well made and pretty, there is no doubt about that. I cannot at the moment think of another example in history of copies being made like this. When the Venetians made the millefiori canes they didn't exactly copy those that came before. They created their own variations and designs. I'm probably the odd person out but I would like these beads a lot more if they were original or expanded on the original.

in a bad part of town on my one trip to NYC
"All art is either derivative or great". IMHO virtually all is derivative. The Venetians simply looked around themselves for inspiration for their flower canes-as does every industry or creative art. You said " I would like these beads a lot more if they were original or expanded on the original." which, to my ear sounds like "I would like these beads a lot more if they were great or derivative". I don't mean this as a personal assault--just a window on reality.
Juel

Hi Paula,

In general bead parlance a "fancy" is an elaborate trailed lampwork bead. A "wedding cake" bead would be a kind of fancy, for instance.

Jamey