Found an old watch chain with 16 matching carved beads. The fob ornament is a pressed glass intaglio of the Roman goddess Ceres, in a deep rust color, apparently meant to imitate carnelian. The intaglio bezel seems to be brass, although the chain and toggle look more like gold-filled. The trademark on the clasp is G.&Co., which may or may not be a manufacturer of this sort of item around the time of WWI. According to info on the internet, pocket watches went out of fashion after WWI and wrist watches became the thing for gentlemen to wear.
http://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Makers/Birmingham-G.html
The pattern on the beads is a trailing vine with two oppositely positioned flowers, which I suppose could be lotus but which resemble chrysanthemums more to my eye. They show wear from the chain, and one has an old chip. They measure about 15x11mm.
So - question number one is, are these actually Chinese-made carved nut beads? Or something else?
Question number two is, should I take it apart to use the beads, or would this totally destroy any provenance that might be attached to such beads?
There seem to be many old Chinese beads featuring lohan and rounded lotus leaves, but these don't seem to fit into that category.
