Hi Peter,

The beads you show are European (German?) phenolics made for the African market, approx. 1930s onwards.

I do not know who did the decoration and would only be speculating to say perhaps added in Africa.....a nice touch though.

Here is a huge link.....though I searched "amber" I was actually hoping to find some on phenolic plastic beads, and there are some such posts there. Including a simple brine test and lots of images and discussion.

Suggesting to anyone to noodle around with the search feature.....we have years of discussions that are as interesting now as then.......

Hello Peter,

These beads are seen occasionally from W. Africa. The patterns are burnt-in--and such work could easily be accomplished with a hobbyist wood-burning tool (popular in the 1950s and '60s in the U.S.).

In the 1970s, I dyed phenolic plastic beads various colors and then carved through the dyed exterior to reveal the interior yellow colors. I also just carved a (superficially) red bead, then baked it. The red turned black, and the pale yellow turned red.

It's not uncommon for phenolic beads to have burned spots on them that most likely resulted from someone performing a heating test. Marks are often black, outlined in red. (These beads can be baked or fried, to be made to turn red entirely.) My assumption has been that the appearance of tested beads may have suggested doing this on-purpose, to create patterns.

Jamey

Hi Jamey,

About ten years ago I saw maybe five (24 inch) strands of these phenolic resin beads from an African bead trader. All of them had these burned in patterns/designs like the ones shown in the original post and ALL of them were this basic bead shape.

I think they are recent production, perhaps being made in the last 10-20 years and then the designs were created later.

Carl

Part Three of my Amber Series for The Bead Journal in 1976 included a cover image that included my decorated beads. At that time, I was told that Africans were very interested in these specimens--because they had not seen such beads.

JDA.

When I had just opened my bead shop in London in 1982 I acquired a bunch of already old bits and pieces from Africa that had been collected as I recollect by a dentist. It included some similar handsome decorated examples with dots and lines also some of the flattened diamond-shapes drilled from corner to corner and again through the centre. If only I had kept some!

Resin from my stash and jewelry I've designed with it.

The picture with the black background is on a 2' x 4' matt - Quite large beads.

Copal is natural. This stuff is plastic. Someone marked up the plastic.

This is a place of learning and sharing knowledge not chastising or "straightening out!

We all used the words Resin (our collective interpretation)- and pointed him to other places of learning...

Petmet's following post was where he displayed that he is saw the interpretations our language provides, hence his use of Phenolic resin.!

I have also included Wikipedia interpretation of Copal. (not all all saying it is 100% accurate - but provides yet another background from which to think and interpret)

I saw the ? ... so what? Where did you separate copal and plastic? Just curious. Y'all went into some pseudo-academic rap about phenolics (let's disguise the vulgar plastic), but you didn't say anything about copal.

Most have been heat treated (not by me) and many have been hand carved (not by me either)

mixed with bone and stone beads and one of my creations from years ago......

... and no one gets hurt"!

double drilled and incised and carved Mauritanian "Amber" beads!! Go out and try to find some today! My guess is you won't even find one strand!!!!

The first in the humongous set of links I posted....gorgeous and scarce!

The green ones are approx 18mm. I have had both strands about 15 years.

The second strand is a mix of Tourmaline and bakelite??? carved to simulate coral.Any knowledge/speculation of origin and date?

What is the distinction between bakelite and phenolic resin?

makeup?
age?
origin?

all of the above?

Thank you in advance

From the bakelite I've handled (one piece was a WWII cribbage board) it is very dense and therefore heavy, compared to plastic and resins, however you define those. I have only handled a few pieces of bakelite jewelry but would expect beads would be heavier than expected, more equivalent to stone like jade. I think bakelte was replaced (like in radio faces etc and in industry) because the plastics coming in, Mrs. Robinson, was lighter and cheaper. But I was just a kid then...

Hi Kathleen,

The clear green beads look like glass. Are you certain they are some kind of plastic?

The carved pink beads are NOT phenolic, but rather are casein (an artificial material made from milk proteins). (1920s or '30s.)

I have explained the issue of Bakelite vs other phenolics so often, someone should be paying me....

Bakelite was patented in 1907 by L H Baekeland (a Belgian working in the US), and named after him. Bakelite is the first thermosetting phenolic plastic. It was manufactured from a prepared granular powder that was dry-molded and heated to fusion--whereupon its structure became permanent. (It is not refusable like a thermplastic, or a thermolabile plastic—these melting when heated and hardening when cooled.) Bakelite routinely had/has fillers (such as asbestos or wood fiber) that make it opaque—and it is ALWAYS dark or dingy in color. Typical colors are black, brown, khaki, and sometimes these colors mottled together.

Bakelite is NOT a pretty material, though there are some handsome applications. Mostly, it was used as an industrial material, where beauty is not much of an issue.

By 1926, after much experimentation, the Bakelite Company patented their line of CAST PHENOLIC PLASTICS. These materials are made from a liquid resin (thus are CAST, AND NOT DRY-MOLDED). They did not require strengthening or harding additives that caused opacity. This allowed these materials to be translucent and dyed any color (for which there were dyes). Plus, by adding some opacifiers or different colors together, swirled concoctions could be produced. (The yellow ones look like amber!).

Cast phenolic plastics are the ones used for colorful jewelry that began in 1926 through the 1930s, and into the present.

There is practically no such thing as "vintage Bakelite jewelry" (particularly if translucent colorful pieces are being discussed). The only things Bakelite could be used to make would be imitations of jet or other dark opaque materials. The vast majority of pieces so-identified ARE NOT BAKELITE, and post-date 1926.

Another company made a product called Catalin--and some collectors use this name to identify cast phenolic plastics (the way "Kleenex" is used for all facial tissues, regardless of actual brands). But not everyone agrees with this practice. Many people do not appreciate that the material is DIFFERENT FROM ACTUAL BAKELITE, and they insist of calling it by that name. And some say that since it was made by the Bakelite Corporation, "it is also Bakelite."

However, while that's a convenient rationale, it is not accurate. Bakelite is a different material.

If the Bakelite Company went into the diamond business tomorrow, would their diamonds be "Bakelite"?

If you read my amber article from 1976, you will find that I characterized the fake-amber or fake-copal beads (that I was exposing for what they really are) as being made from "Bakelite-like plastics." I knew they were not Bakelite, but I knew they were thermosetting phenolic plastics. I was not entirely sure what all the specific details were (though I came to know that translucent phenolic plastics were made as early as 1926)..., until 1985, when I met a vintage plastics collector (Catherine Yronwood), who understood these issues and helped me understand them better. She showed me the professional manufacturing announcements from Bakelite that proclaimed this new material in 1926. (That she found in the NYC Public Library.) Catherine was a proponent of using "Catalin" as a substitute for "Bakelite."

Read the Wikipedia article below, and notice it says NOTHING about jewelry manufacture.

More to come. Jamey

It is amazing to me that dozens of books have been written about "vintage Bakelite" and collectible plastics jewelry—that NEVER MENTION this stuff isn't actually Bakelite.

I have promoted the distinction for thirty-five years, and I've given numerous lectures on the topics of amber (1978), and collectible plastic beads and jewelry (1986), to quite a few audiences.

People do not like being told that their amber is fake. And collectors of old plastic do not like being told theirs is not "Bakelite."

These topics inspire considerable emotionally-charged consternation. I am accustomed to being rejected and dismissed, because I say unpopular but true things. I am the Cassandra of the Bead World. It is my cross to bear....

If you're interested in the topic of Catalin, read the Wikipedia article below.

JDA.

And yes - I am sure they are not glass, stone, or ceramic - some sort of resin ..you'll have to come see!

I read what you have recommended and I am sure I will have more questions.

that "catalin" is the BRAND name for the Catalin Corp.'s Bakelite. Bakelite, of course, as patented, is the trade name for the phenol formaldehyde material invented by Baekeland. Meanwhile, Catalin Corp. acquired the Bakelite formulas in 1927 and when they did so, they made up their new BRAND name. It's all the same stuff, differing only in name. The Catalin people did a better job beautifying the Bakelite. It's all phenol formaldehyde whatever you want to call it otherwise.

Bakelite = phenol formaldehyde = Catalin (brand name for Bakelite)

Sorry, pal!

Hi all

I know Jamey and I always agree to differ on this one (we've discussed it amicably before), but the attached image from the Bakelite Corporation themselves (which I have shown on BCN before) shows the many varied colours available (albeit in the 1930's, not pre-1926) as real moulded Bakelite, i.e. made under the famous 1907 Baekeland “heat and pressure” patent of July 13, 1907. The "black, brown, khaki, and sometimes these colors mottled together" which Jamey mentions are the restricted palette of 1907-mid 1920's Bakelite, to which we should add mottled dark red and dark green, as I have plenty of examples of 1920's items in these colours too.

The image shows moulded/molded samples, they are not cast phenolics, and there are yellows, oranges, reds, blues, cream, even purple as well as the marbled browns, black etc. Mo

Now I am not arguing here (and I never have done) that moulded Bakelite was made into beads - just that it is incorrect to say that all coloured phenol formaldehyde (or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride to give it its chemical name) is cast phenolic resin, and we should take notice of contemporary 1930's evidence that there was a much wider range of coloured Bakelite.

Carole

Hi Carole,

Thanks for the reminder.

How do we know that these samples are dry-molded phenolic plastics ("Bakelite"), and not cast phenolic plastics?

When I am talking about beads and jewelry, I am NOT talking bout other objects. Change the context to make the meaning untrue. Anyone can do that. Why do you think that colorful jewelry applications were left out of the Wiki monologue?

Be well. Jamey

Hi Jamey

The image comes via the Plastics Historical Society (of which I am a member) - and although I can't recall which past journal it was in I remember the author using this advertising literature from the Bakelite Corporation to show dry-moulded colours.

If they were cast phenolics (and at this stage I can't be 100% certain they aren't), then the Bakelite corporation is referring to them in their own literature as 'Bakelite Molded Colors' showing at least that they were viewing their own cast phenolics as 'Bakelite'. Not just their dry-moulded phenolics.

The name Bakelite, legitimately used by the Bakelite Corporation in the USA and Bakelite Ltd in the UK was used for cast phenolics.

Percy Reboul (who worked at Bakelite Ltd from 1958 onwards) in his article 'Bakelite the Hidden Agenda' in Plastiquarian 40, p.11 (October 2008) says that:

"the Bakelite trade name was also used by later owners of the Bakelite organisation in connection with other plastics materials such as polyester and epoxide resins, urea formaldehyde and even polythene".

Interesting as well in the same article he says that:

"phenolic resins were made by competitive companies under their own trade names. Such products were often described as 'Bakelite' which strictly speaking they were not, but the trade name had become generic. This should worry no-one other than the 'anorak brigade', but one day it might be a fruitful field for the legal profession"

Carole

The material is Bakelite and that's truly the end of the story.

if you want to know when the Catalin Corp. acquired the Bakelite formulas. They made up their own brand name for Bakelite. They called their Bakelite "Catalin". Of course they tinkered with it, but it's still Bakelite. Bakelite is phenol formaldehyde. Catalin is a brand name for phenol formaldehyde. It's simple.

A phenol formaldehyde by any other name smells phenolic. I hope Shakespeare's heirs don't trouble me for appropriating his work.

for Bakelite. It's no more complicated than that. It's all the same phenol formaldehyde. Call it whatever you want, but if you want to sell it, call it "amber".

Mr. Kiki still has not gotten it.

I stand by what I have written, and not some twisted version, regurgitated for an audience that can read for themselves what I said.

"Bakelite" is a registered trademark of the Bakelite Corporation. "Catalin" is likewise the registered name used by THAT company, for their product(s).

The differences between Bakelite and any other dry-molded phenolic plastic, compared to any other cast-phenolic plastics has already been discussed. No amount of saying "it's all Bakelite" will change the historical facts.

I repeat, I HAVE SEEN the professional announcements that were originally produced to advertise the NEW production of cast phenolics in 1926. This is how I know and am confident this is the correct year. (Not "1928" as published in some of the literature I have also reviewed, in my copious investigations to understand these issues.)

JDA.

Bakelite and Catalin? Who else made bakelite products?

In her book 'Classic Plastics. From Bakelite to High Tech' (1984) by Sylvia Katz, she lists 111 Trade names for Phenol Formaldehyde which include cast phenolic and laminates.

Another one I know was used for jewellery was Marblette (Marblette Corporation USA)

The companies are also listed, and are mostly in the USA and UK, but also include Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Germany, France, Italy and Poland.

Carole

A person invents a material and calls it Bakelite. The capital 'B' is irrelevant. He patents the material. The next people acquire the formulas and call the same material Catalin. Naturally, it's no longer Bakelite; it's now Catalin. Never mind it's really the same material.

So now we have 111+ materials that aren't really Bakelite; they're just 111+ names for Bakelite. It's all crystal clear now!

It's obvious, and all the literature confirms it, that Bakelite is a "generic trade name" for a particular material, like nylon or aspirin or a zillion other things.

If you cannot comprehend the difference between a dry-molded pre-1926 (or even post-1926) material, and a cast liquid post-1926 material—that is your problem.

I doubt that anyone else is struggling to get the difference—and I doubt that anyone cares that you don't get it.

It's as if glass fragments and powder were put in a mold and heated up to make some kind of glass object, but if liquid glass is poured into a cast, the resultant object is no longer glass. Do you think the audience will struggle with this?

Meanwhile, shouldn't we be calling a lot of "molded" glass beads "cast", inasmuch as they amount to "cast" liquid glass?

Since Bakelite only results from dry molding and liquid castings of Bakelite are no longer Bakelite, what do we call the "liquidcast" material?

"drymold" Bakelite = Bakelite
"liquidcast" Bakelite = ???

Gosh, it's deep! Coming soon...the difference between "mold" and "cast".

Hi Kathleen

If your transparent clear green beads are a clear cast phenolic, then they may be Prystal - the trade name used by the Catalin Corporation for its range of clear cast phenolics which ranged from transparent clear (which all end up as 'apple juice' colour after years of oxidation) to other colours.

I've attached an image of a necklace I have of clear green Prystal beads which are much more uniform and regularly lathe-turned than yours, and the holes are different. Phenolic beads start out life as cast cylindrical canes which were then lathe-turned into round and oval etc beads.

Carole M

not quite settled in all this, and yes your beads are more symmetrical.

Prystal is a clear cast phenolic product—so it is therefore not "Bakelite."

"Bakelite" is a registered trademark name. It is ALWAYS Capitalized.

Please try harder. Alter all, you are very hard on everyone else.

JDA.

That's a period at the end of this uncapitalized sentence. bakelite is the name given to the phenol formaldehyde material by its inventor.

nylon is the name given to that material by its inventor. It's sold under a lot of brand names, like bakelite is. Wake up!

Your original rap on bakelite is at odds with the Wiki stuff to which you directed us. Read again and keep on digging your Hobbiland hole.

Dear Kiki,

Your latest error is in thinking that I have to agree 100% with the Wiki article--or anything.

I have my own thoughts based upon my own research and observations.

I posted the Wiki article to present another point-of-view. I am not, in any way, threatened by it—nor by you. It is merely something else for readers to consider. And it's light-years ahead of you and your tiny mind.

Maybe those old shapeless brown or reddish plastic beads are actual Bakelite-brand Bakelite and not Catalin-brand (dare I say?) Bakelite.