Red Cicada Bead

In ancient China cicadas were used as burial objects and are normally made from jade or white/green glass. Red cicadas on the other hand are rarely seen or documented. My guess is that,  red being an auspicious color did not make "proper" grave goods and red cicadas were therefore not as popular as the jade ones.

Perhaps, this one is modern or at least Qing as the surface is quite worn. Personally I prefer my cheery, chubby critter (allit.....allit... ah alliteration, it rhymes :) ) to the flat, aloof Han specimens which are made of jade or glass.

At  first I mistook the material to be carnelian. On closer exam it turned out to be glass because of the bubbles seen under a magnifyer.

Measuring 2.3cmx1.5cm in the round, this cicada has a deep cut on both sides of the body.

 

I am not sure what the cut-in sides indicate. Had the maker intended to cut it into two flat cicadas but changed his mind at the last minute, and perforated it instead, turning it into a bead ? The large perforation is drilled from head to tail and the whole cicada measures 2.3x1.5cm. It could   have served as a hair accessory or as a Pei.

I have strung it with new Chinese turquoise beads for use as a bracelet. The bright turquoise makes the bead darker than it really is.

An alternative bracelet with lighter jade beads, show up its subdued tones  like a faded beauty.

QUADRAPLET ROCK CRYSTAL BEAD

Bead that rocks

This is one rock crsytal bead that ROCKS ! Its shape is rather unusual being made up of 4 beads carved from one rock crystal. What should be the right word to describe its shape ? Quadraplet is what I have in mind except it doesnt conform to bead terminology, but never mind.

When I first saw it I thought it resembled an aeroplane. But then on second glance it looked like a bird, a rocket even a spaceship !! Rather ingenious bead maker with something of the funky touch.

Bird , aeroplane or rocket ?

The perfs are quite large and in each of them are concentric ring tool marks. The crystal surface is weathered and primitive and the bead measures 3cmx2.5cm. Was it meant to be worn as a pendant or a bead? In any case why 4 perforations?

I haven't seen the likes of such a bead before. Nor seen it documented in any book or on the net. For all I know it might have been used as a Tibetan amulet, Mongolian sword ornament, Manchurian flask decoration,  neolithic mythical  object, ritualistic symbol is anyone's guess. I may be wrong but it doesn't look like a Han artefact although the bead came from China.

still trying to figure out the object....

Hmmmm, if this is a bird I  guess the large central bead maybe the body and the 2 side appendages  may be the wings but what about the top appendage. Is it a bird  carrying something on its back? Louis Cha's tales of Condor Heros come to mind :))

BIRD BEAD

to this bird loving world..... and all you bead loving people... 

When I saw this turquoise bird bead, it immediately reminded me of my kingfisher friends in the backyard. (see my other blog Kingfisher on my fence.)


Kingfishers from my Garden

These real life kingfishers from my garden, can be quite noisy but when they perch on my fence they are very silent and still and make good companions.

Those are the real birds now for my turquoise simulation.

My turquoise bird bead is tiny and measures 2.5x1.5cm. The body is plain except for one incised line near its upswept double level tail. Its round eyes look serious and thoughtful not unlike my kingfisher companions at the backyard. The legs are not drawn and ends in a pedestal. The perforation is top down and could have been used as a Pei and worn from the waist. Because of its smallness it could also have been an ornamental element in  a necklace.

There are  marks all over its body and circular marks around the eyes. It has the qualilties of an archaic bird but I can't find a good enough comparison to specify a period.

So, dear little blue bird, whether you hail from Dongzhou, Xizhou, Shang, Han or even 21 st century, its still a bird-loving world from BC to AD :)

JATIMS REVISITED

FUN WITH JATIMS

Jatims are ancient glass beads from Indonesia. I am revisiting and trying to relove my jatim beads even though I am not sure how many of them are genuine and how many are fakes. They look pretty neat onscreen and I may just about con myself into believing their authenticity. Heh! Heh!

Beautiful Beads -- too good to be true? (sigh)

Fakery or fogery aside, these beads are decorative and appealing.

Jatims stand tall with other fun beads

Jatims are more outstanding seen vertically than lying flat. I got the idea from a bead display I saw on the net.

RECYCLED PEKING GLASS BEADS

The pair of pretty antique earrings shown below is made from Peking glass beads.

I can't decide whether these beads have been recycled into earrings or whether they are just broken earrings. Looking at the end holes beneath the silver caps, I can see damage, so the beads may have been retrieved from a bead necklace and remade/recycled into earrings. Or they may have been earrings all along and the ends merely damaged from use. Who can tell?

The silver chains look like from late Qing period and the earrings probably date from late 19th century.

Xizhou Carnelian (Manao) Disc Beads

Here's a richly red string of carnelian (manao) disc beads from the Xizhou Dynasty (1027-771BC)

There are numerous examples of these carnelian discs in Chinese and Western books. A string of  carnelian discs like mine, can be seen in Roger Chow's Sparkling Splendor, pg.90 which is attributed to the Xizhou Dynasty.

Carnelian discs also appear in the magnificient pectoral ensembles of Xizhou Dynasty. Many examples  are documented in the Chinese publication Zhonghua Wenming Chuan Zhen 2. on pg. 99,105,111,112,113.  However  carnelian discs were used only in supporting and contrasting roles  to hold  the more valuable jade congs, plaques, huangs, bis and the whatever important jades in place and to give color contrast.

Below is a picture of a Zhou jade pectoral exhibited at the Henan Museum. It shows an ensemble of carnelian discs sitting alongside jade huangs. Whee ! what a swinging chain fit for an emperor to strut around in.  Who else would go striding around with such a chain :) ?

In Zhou times the discs rosy hue must have made a striking contrast with the white nephrite huangs. For present day use I prefer to put them next to icy crystals.

 Manao and crystal

Although the carnelian discs maybe  generic and  unremarkable alongside the princely jade pieces, I am a sucker for their flaming color and their rich place in history.

Here is a favourite bracelet of mine using the discs together with slender jade tubes

Jade tubes are not so old and maybe at most only 50-100 years or less.

JOY TO COLLECTORS !

I am celebrating this holiday season with my beads and jade.

Only the white jade, peanut shaped earrings with amethyst chip accents were made by me. The crystal and turquoise beads necklace and crystal and pearl tennis racket pendant were finds at a craft stall.

Although the white jade earrings is really shaped as a peanut, I thought my earrings ended up looking like a yuletide log cake.

 

peanut or  yuletide log cake?

Peanut- shaped

Log Cake

3 Prong Jade Ornament

This 3 prong jade ornament was purchased in China.

It is an archaic shape and resembles the trident shaped artifacts from Neolithic periods which has been described as "San Zi" (shaped like the Chinese character "Mountain." ) Such artifacts are illustrated and described in Chinese as well as Western literature. See JADE by consultant editor Roger Keverne pages 54 and 76 for Liangzhu examples. They are said to be hair ornaments because they have been discovered near the head usually together with a jade Stick.

The Liangzhu examples in book JADE show exquisite carvings but my specimen is completely plain. The holes are also positioned differently, the Liangzhu trident has holes drilled from the top of the prongs, while in my specimen the 3 holes on the prongs and one at the circular end of the pendant are all drilled through the body of the pendant. My pendant is also thinner than the Liangzhu ones.

One side is horrendously corroded

On the obverse side the damage is not so bad.

My partial eye is again detecting some strange phenomenon on the less corroded side. Look at the ornament with the prongs facing downwards :

Do you see a sillouhuette or vague outline that is birdlike and  seems nature made?

close up view

Ha ha mayhap my imagination doth run wild (the cynic Heng says its just a blotch lah !) I just love these quirky pieces that will not make me rich except in the mind and the heart.

To conclude, this three prong piece strongly resembles an archaic artefact though I'd be hard pressed to give its definite vintage.

Below I have tried to recreate its use as a hair ornament, fitting it with Xizhou carnelian and turquoise disc beads. Could it have been tied to some ladies elegant top knot in ancient times ? Hmmmm, actually,  it reminds me of the hair dangles worn by Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Carribean. I suppose some swinging Stone Age guy might have had the same fashion idea aeons ago :)))

Ornament  for Johnny Depp or Stone Age Guy ?

Friendship Knots for Bi Lovers

My friend Q taught me this simple and useful friendship knot

Made in contrasting colors these knotted chains are handy for attaching accessories, especially for my collection of bis.The knotted chain can be attached to any bi (or other circular accessory) by using the larks head knot.

The necklace is completed wih a flat knot so that the length can be altered according to the outfit of the day.

Here are are my favourite bi accessories marking my love for jade, knots and bis.

The Parrot and the Pussycat

the parrot and the pussy cat did not go down  to sea.....

....  instead they came to  my home and I am their happy host. Here are  the pair of visitors  from the past :))

Both are carved from crystal but hail from different periods of Chinese culture.

What a beautiful pussy you are, you are ....

This sleek Puss with the snooty expression is likely to be from the late Qing Dynasty,  around 1874-1908AD. It sits on a flat pedestal which must have originally been intended to serve as a seal. However on this piece there is no carving on the flat bottom.

....you elegant fowl.....

I think the "elegant fowl", above is a Parrot. It has a hooked beak, round eyes, curved claws and the tail ends as a stand.  The piece is  partially corroded by iron rust marks and must have been buried with iron or metal objects. Parts of the body and the tail is covered by an abstract pattern carved in deep, strong  (dao gong  you li) lines. There are very old concentric ring drill marks in the perforation at the beak. 

Many parrot pieces have been discovered in Shang excavations and the shape and bearing of this elegant fowl has the flavour of that era. So, methinks or mehopes that this is a late Shang/early Zhou dynasty, about 1200-1000BC piece.

Honey Color Cylinder Beads

I bought these honey-color, cylinder-shaped beads from a junkman in China. He could not tell me the exact vintage, just said "very old."

These cylinders have no distinguishing features other than their lovely color.

I have not seen them in any Chinese research material, and will like the junkman accept them as old. I am not even sure whether the stone is carnelian, agate or serpentine. Maybe as junkman says it should simply be called "yu"

I love their honey color and cool (literally) and smooth texture, so gorgeous to touch. Here are the cylinders tied with button knots into a necklace.

The central flat black bead has an eye decoration on it. Is the stone black onyx and how old?

On the reverse there are what look like traces of encrustation from some leather article. If this is not glued on, and it looks like not, then there is hope that this is a fairly old bead too.

Reverse view

BRAIDS AND BEADS

Here's a friendship braid with tiny glass beads made by my friend Q. It arrived just in time for my birthday altho Q doesn't know nor meant it as a birthday present. It was entirely fortuitous.

She has been teaching me braids but not quite succeeding. I dont know why all my friends from M & M to Q produce lovely crafts and I am the odd girl out. I dont have crafters' hands, here is a specimen of my "maiden braid." Some maiden, looks like I have a long way to go.

Here are more lovely braids done by Q

Close up of the braids

Thank you Q ! Take a bow ! You have brightened my dark days, meanwhile I must jia you! jia you! :))

Carnelian and Rock Crystal Necklace

I composed and made this carnelian and rock crystal necklace using button knots. Making this necklace, provided dual benefits, as I could practice tying my knots and completing it means I can wear my favourite beads.

The carnelian cylinders were purchased from a Tibetan lady in China. She couldn't  tell me the exact vintage nor origin.

This shape is sometimes referred to as "bamboo " shape by the Chinese and sometimes "bulging at the waist " shape or "yao-gu-xing". I guess Westerners would say bi-conical. I have seen bamboo-shaped cylinder carnelian beads which have been provenanced to Western Zhou - Warring States (11-3rd century BC) in Chinese books, including Roger Chow's Sparkling Splendours, but I am not saying that my beads are ancient.

Lest I be scoffed at for false/misleading comparisons, I must explain that I am not drawing these comparisons to imply that my cylinders are authentic of the Warring States era. I have not seen many examples of these cylinders in real life, nor in books, (ah, alas the narrowness of my experience) and so it was interesting for me to come across the illustrations given in the Chinese documents. No ulterior motive intended :) Besides there are many other considerations apart from a similar looking shape to justify a bead as old/ancient, let alone belong to the fabulous Warring States era ! And for all I know my beads maybe new beads, new beads made old, old beads made older, antique, vintange, plain replicas, and many other combinations.

My specimen is in good condition and the stone if ancient is still shiny, the bead hole is rather large and the bamboo wedge shape is rounded, not sharp. Roger Chow's sample is sharp and so there's the difference. The walls of the bead are rather thin when compared to the size of the perforation. How did the tubes get so hollowed out ? Is this method of stone bead making peculiar to a period or culture? So the jury is still out on this pair of cylinder beads. And meanwhile they do pique my interest.

The central rock crystal bead is truncated, biconical, and faceted. It came from Myanmar and is likely to be Pyu about 100 BC to 840 AD or later.