Note the "morning glory" clasp.
And a lot of the other beads seem to be from earlier decades.
Someone went through the junk shops of Hong Kong during the 1970s and macramed up a bunch of necklaces?
So far we have only two examples - Nick's in his previous post, and then this one. But they do seem to have been made by the same person or workshop.
Note the "Dot Artist" cloisonne bead, too. Also.
There are no ojime in the second necklace posted. Unless you count the two cheap molded ochre color ones. But I get your point: 'Chinese beads are often unwittingly confused and misrepresented as "Ojime." '
Notice especially the flat disk with the phoenix on it. Some of these disks are not exactly cloisonne, but are machine-stamped with the pattern and then filled with enamel - that is, the pattern is not drawn by hand with thin strips of wire.
Given that these Chinese cloisonne items show up in Japanese accessories, I have to wonder just what went on during the 1930s years of Japanese invasion of China.
Like the glass works in Boshan, did the Japanese also invest in cloisonne workshops?
Is there a Japanese influence in Chinese cloisonne designs from 1930-1950?
Everyone who knows anything about this is most likely now dead, but it is a mystery, I think. I wonder what the archives of theJapanese Ando and Inaba companies might reveal.
From Wikipedia:
"Within the East Asian artistic tradition, China has been the acknowledged teacher and Japan the devoted student. Nevertheless, several Japanese arts developed their own style, which can be differentiated from various Chinese arts. The monumental, symmetrically balanced, rational approach of Chinese art forms became miniaturized, irregular, and subtly suggestive in Japanese hands."
The Chinese artist excels in replication and repetition of subject matter and style. The Japanese artist is more likely to create one of a kind pieces and is more subtly lyrical.
