Matching Mum's Pearls with Xizhou Carnelian Disc Beads

Beautiful Beads are a Joy Forever !



Mum's vintage cultured pearls are  around 70 years old while  Xizhou carnelian disc beads are from the 11th century BC. Although several thousand years apart - still I think it worked and  they are well paired.

A Joy to Wear, A Memory to Treasure.







Decorating Braided Bracelets with Antique Jade

Combining my love for braiding and my love for quirky pieces of old jade I have, over time come up with more  braided bracelet items. Each bracelet was painstakingly hand knotted by me and each antique jade ornament just as tirelessly  hand carved by craftsmen from long ago.

 

My bespoke bracelets





I used embroidery floss and braid patterns like Chevron, Chevron with border, Egyptian and Knitted to knot the bracelets.  Tiny, flat jade ornaments were then added as a centerpiece or as a closure  after the bracelets were completed.

Of the six bracelets 2 were formed by the simple pattern Chevron, shown below


 

Top pattern: Chevron embellished with jade butterfly as centerpiece
(closure button is modern)
Bottom pattern : Three color Chevron decorated with white jade polygon
as centerpiece and square jade button as closure
 

 



Chevron with border is a variation of the chevron pattern. The two bracelets shown below were made to this design.

 



Top pattern: Aubergine color chevron with contrasting grey border and
white bird as centerpiece (closure button is modern)
Bottom Pattern : Three color chevron with contrasting pink border,
 ending with a carved jade button
 

 



Last two  bracelets were made with  more complicated Egyptian and Knitted designs.



Pattern: Reverse side of Knitted pattern is used. Knitted pattern shown below
Decorated in the centre with a white jade bird. (Closure button is modern)

Knitted pattern on other side
 

The last bracelet was knotted following the Egyptian design

 

Pattern : Egyptian with spherical jade button closure





Compared with the mass produced stuff of today my self crafted, personalized accessories are real neato !

  

What a refreshing change !

 

 

A String of Beads and Pendants from early Chinese History

Inspired by the elaborate necklaces of the Xizhou dynasty,(1046-771 BC) I have come up with my own modest strand  using  beads and pendants  from early periods of China's civilization.

 

Mostly Shang - Zhou beads and pendants



Patina, toolmarks and carving style on these beads and pendants (silkworms, phoenix, turtle shell, disc etc) point tentatively to Shang - Xizhou period (1600-771 BC)  and later.

The strand is made up of  a trapezoidal jade bead, 2 silkworms, a spherical carved bead, a bead of turtle shell carving, two  bamboo shape tube beads and a pair of cicadas interspersed with small carnelian disc beads.

Details of the components given below.

Picture below shows beads with three different shapes. From left spherical bead with c-shaped  motifs (1.4cm), flat turtle shell bead (1.5 x 1cm) and a trapezoidal bead with phoenix carving (2 x 1.5cm at the base)




Bead shapes are spherical, flat and trapezoidal





Next is a pair of silkworm pendants the left worm is 3 cm and right is 2.8 cm.

 

 

Pair of silkworms



A pair of  slender bamboo shaped tubes with left tube measuring 2.0cm x 0.5cm and right 2.3cm x 0.5 cm

 

Left tube is 2cmx0.5cm right tube is 2.3cm x0.5cm



Pair of cicadas measures approximately 1.5cm x 1.2cm and likely to be later than Xizhou period.

 



Pair of cicadas




The carnelian disc beads used as spacers are the hallmarks of many Xizhou necklaces.
 



Small discs measures approx. 1 cm across
 



These red discs also add a touch of color to the otherwise somber hues of my string.

 

Rosy carnelian beads add a touch of color