New Life for Old Charms

This bagful of dusty, old jade charms had been sitting in my drawers for some years now.

Bagful of old jade charms

Occasionally I would dig them up to make the odd earring for a Christmas or New Year gift. Because these charms had a random pre-life (as hairpin, toggle or accessory) it is hard to find an exact matching pair for earrings.

Charms of every shape and size - hard to find an identical pair



And earring wearers are also loth to put on unmatched pairs, so it had not been an altogether  successful  project for these hand cut charms

Mismatched charms



While mulling over them one day I had an epiphany and I was struck by a sudden brainwave to reinvent them into jade sprays. Learning to wire these charms into a spray needed a few hours to master.

Practice piece



From this charm making exercise I also got an opportunity to use and show off antique glass bottles from my old bottles collection. These bottles had been languishing in shoe boxes with nary a glance from admirers showered on them and now they have been rejuvenated!  Look,  how well they complement my little jade sprays.


Antique glass bottles complement my jade sprays

These bottles are also interesting old glass specimens. The two end bottles look like 1920's perfume bottles and the gourd shape bottle could have been used for Chinese herbal medicine. Next to it is a carved crystal snuff bottle which I have converted into mini vase for my jade spray.

I have also roped in a 1970s or 80s Joy perfume bottle to plant my jade spray with pearl accents, shown below.

Joy and Jade make a lovely pair!



My jade sprays stand out  below with  my 1,000 year old Sung dynasty (960-1279AD) greenware pot. Together they form a classic composition.

Unending beauty - jade and Sung greenware



Wiring these tiny charms into sprays have been therapeutic . How they cheer me and heal the stress and pain of daily living.

Jade as healer



Lunar New Year of the Goat

I don't know why goats/rams/sheep/lamb are considered lucky by the Chinese  but this  belief  has been passed down through generations. There's a Chinese saying san yang kai tai or 3 goats start a fortune.  To ring in the Year of the Goat 2015 then,  I will show  some of  my goat collectibles especially in groups of three like the picture below.

san yang kai tai or 3 goats a fortune make.



Below are another 3 jade goat mascots of good luck for 2015. These 3 are pendants - the one on the left has the money or coin symbol on the reverse and must have been made to commemorate the goat year in a previous cycle.

Goat pendants

Reverse has double coins to double the luck for year of goat.



Next is an interesting goat bead. It is pierced through  the body and intended to be a dangle. This  serious looking goat also has a beard....so that's where the term goatee comes from :)

goatee comes from goat's beard !

Heng has contributed a  couple more goats/rams carved from serpentine from his collection.  Looks like a mother and child pair.

Ram or goat ?



2015 is the year of the Wooden Goat but as I have no wooden goats to show  I'll make do with a pair of vintage metal lambs which came from Hilltribes of Thailand.

bleat! bleat1

Rummaging among my collectibles looking for goats to display, I retrieved this long forgotten porcelain goat/sheep purportedly from Song dynasty (960-1279AD). Of yin qing glaze, it is large but roughly potted. Guess it could make nice mutton soup for Song folks :)

Can make a nice mutton soup!



Another quirky pair is this wool on rice paper picture of a nanny goat and a billy goat nibbling grass beneath cherry or prunus blossoms.   Using wool to make a picture of a goat is quite appropriate and I must say the goats wear their wool well. I am not sure whether its pure lamb's wool or even maybe silk threads imitating wool. I bought the picture at a garage sale more than thirty years ago. It was already framed and old at the time of purchase,  so I reckon the vintage to be at least 80 years. 

Nanny goat and billy goat.



Lastly here is  the handmade lamb's work that I stitched more than 20 years ago (see date 1988 on cross stich)



  

Little lamb who made thee?

To end on a cheerful note and add the obligatory CNY red , (so far missing from this post) is this greeting for the new year.

  

Wishing All Collectors Goat Luck for 2015

Tian Tian Xi Xi Yang Yang !

Tian tian xi xi yang yang





  



Of Necks, necklaces and bracelets

Like Nora Ephron I too  'feel bad about my neck'  and that is why, avid bead collector that I am, I seldom wear my beloved beads as necklaces, which are mostly enjoyed as a collector's strand. Instead I choose to wear my beads as bracelets. This also has the advantage of the beads being visible to me as well as drawing the eyes of  any keen onlookers though, sadly this has not often been the case. Guess people here only go for gem stones and don't appreciate "faded beauties" like my age-old beads.

 

More than 2 dozen bracelets



 

Below I will highlight some favorites  in my bead  bracelets wardrobe. First I will show the reds mostly of carnelians strung with some agates and coral spacers. These beads date from 500 to thousands of years old. The etched ones are mostly from Myanmar. 

 

 

Carnelians from Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam

 

Carnelians mixed with crystals and glass is also favoured by me

 

 

Dazzling Reds

 

Top most bracelet features a large hexagonal carnelian bead, faceted crystals and dusky red glass beads all from Vietnam. Bottom left bracelet is Chinese in origin. The carnelian and turquoise disc beads are probably Xizhou (1046-256BC)  while the dogbone shape crystal is also from some early Chinese dynasty. All the faceted carnelians on right bracelet are antique beads from Indonesian.

 

 

Green and shades of green, blue green are also what I collect and wear.

 

 

Greenstone and carnelian



Bracelet on the left composed of greenstone and carnelian beads from Myanmar. On the right, central bead from China, mixed with greenstone beads from Myanmar including 2 elephants.

The mix of stone and glass beads shown below are from Myanmar and neighboring Vietnam.

 

 

Stone and glass beads

 

Yellow is not one of my favorite colors but I have a couple of bracelets in Van Gogh yellows to cheer a dull day.

 

 

Very Van Gogh (I wish!)

 

On the left the central yellow bead with red and green flowers is  Venetian and reminds me of Van Gogh's colors. The two beads with red dots, next to  the central bead,  come from Lhasa, the top of the world  while the small plain yellow disc beads are from Indonesia. Quite an international combination for this bracelet. On the right are African trade beads with fancy names many of which I cant recall except for the two French cross beads.

 

 

French cross beads



The next one is a recent acquisition. I think its made of quartz and carnelian, carved in ribbed segments. Not sure about the age and vintage but comes from Zhejiang, China.

 

 

Barrel shape beads carved in ribbed segments



 

Agates are one of my favourite stones and here are two from Myanmar

 

 

Agates are my favourite stones



 

Kashmir may be famous for its houseboats and picturesque scenery  but it also home to a  large variety of semi precious stones. My next bracelet is composed from amethyst, moonstone, quartz and agates from my long ago trip to Kashmir.

 

 

Semi-precious stones from Kashmir







Beads in my bead bracelet wardrobe, come from all over the globe !
(o that rhymes :))

3 Lovely Lasses

These 3 slim girls carved from jade hail from maybe 2000 years ago.



Maybe as old as 2000 years

Judging from the degree of corrosion on the jade they must have endured long years of burial. Although  they  have lost their original    lustre some dignified grace remains in their tall silhouette , long sleeves, hands demurely folded at the waist.

 

Lacklustre  but still dignified



Each piece is minimally carved and the facial features are simply notched.  As the figures do not carry any air of nobility  they may represent serving maids from the countryside. I am guessing  that they hail from the Han dynasty (206BC -220AD) as their gait and garments, top knots etc resemble paintings and wall murals of Han dynasty folk.

 

Simple and dignified



The back view shows the long sleeves and a line indicates the hair

 

Back view



At top of the head there is a ring hole for attachment as pendant

Ring hole for attachment as pendant

Their small size measuring 4.7cm x 0.5 cm, together with the ring hole indicates that they may have served as components in  ornamental jade sets such as the one set up by me below.

 

Could have been in a set of Jade Ornaments such as this "made-up" set



As Han jade, the carving on these pieces are not great but they are  interesting figurines from the past. When they were newly carved and polished, I am sure they must have been Lovely Lasses.



3 Lovely Lasses



 

Bead Pin Ups

Making Pin Ups of my miscellaneous beads is my latest pastime.

 

Bead Pin ups aka Hairpins or Hair Sticks

I got the inspiration for this project after visiting Crafty Crafter's webpage (think I'd adopt the name Crafty Beader .... sounds jazzy, though I am not much of a beader : ) ...... so thanks CC for giving me the idea.

Putting them  together was easy. With a pin and a dab of glue to hold the beads in place and presto the pin ups are made.

Easy to make bead pins

Attaching a dangle of silver, coral or cloisonné bead increases their charm.

 

Pair of bead pin ups with attached dangly of silver or cloisonne



The bead holder of these two pins is also very special. It is also a bead, albeit a very large one. It is carved on two sides with a Liangzhu style  mask motif and is likely to be a replica.

 

Liangzhu style mask motif



Composing these bead pins, aka hairpins or hair sticks led me to discover new ways to display and enjoy my beads instead of hiding them away in drawers and boxes where they never see the light of day. Not only that, but I also uncovered some surprising treasures among my buried beads.

Here is a group of glass, brass, copper  and turquoise beads rejuvenated into pins. Some of the beads were purchased from Nepalese traders long time ago and had been dismissed by me as from the rag and bone category and stuffed away. However in the process of setting them  up some of  these beads piqued my interest and I grew curious about  their background and vintage.

 

Glass, brass, copper and one carved turquoise



Wild as the suggestion may be, two of the pins (highlighted below)  bear some resemblance to the China's Warring States eye beads, circa 500 BC but they are obviously new.

Resembles Warring States eye beads ?



Here is a comparison with a Warring States composite eye bead to support my fanciful/wishful thinking.

Any  resemblance to Warring States eye bead shown on right?

 

Next pin shown below features a blue glass bead on top and a copper bead below. While the blue glass bead is not particularly striking the copper bead is  thought provoking. To my eyes the shape is reminiscent of   a prayer wheel and the embossed circular design  may represent a mantra.

 

Copper bead resembles a Prayer wheel



And here are 6 more of the same  beads. According to one net source the Tibetan hand held prayer wheel is a cylindrical wheel set atop a spindle with a weight attached to  a chain. Buddhist pilgrims rotate this prayer wheel with the help of the spinning weight. I am thinking that these beads may have been the weights  that aid in the spinning of the prayer wheel except they are too light. So I am making another wild guess, but they do reflect a mystical presence.

 

Evokes the image of a prayer wheel with spiritual presence

 

The turquoise bead pin shown below was a gift from a bead pal many years ago. It is well carved with the Chinese character  Shou  (longevity) and combined with green glass bead and a small coral dangly makes another neat pin.

 

Carved turquoise with coral dangly



 

I speculate that the turquoise bead maybe  from some vintage Chinese jewelry or it could have been part of a 19th century court necklace . Here are more of the beads.

Auspicious Beads

 

Beads with auspicious words carved on them, like these turquoise beads can also be used in malas or rosary such as the one I made,  shown below

 

Turquoise beads used as highlights or separators in a mala



I could go on ad infinitum making and posting  bead pins but  before this post gets too boring I will wrap up my Bead Pin Up Show with a  sweet eye bead pin.

Eye catching replica eye bead



 





I love collecting .....

......jade hairpins and hair accessories, from a bygone era. My collection is mostly made  from jade, carnelian or silver and date from the Qing dynasty to early 20th Century. Hairpins are essentially objects of feminine beauty to decorate ladies hair. They have evolved  into tender gifts of love  from milady to hero as featured in many a lovers tale in Chinese novels and dramas. Adam Cheng's wistful ballad Purple Jade Hairpin also celebrates the romance of the hairpin.

Vintage and antique hairpins of jade carnelian and silver



 Not all the hairpins in my collection are in their original condition, some have been reworked with missing parts filled in, others are the remains of assemblages namely the jade, carnelian, coral or agate while the gold and silver content have been melted down for money.

The jade and carnelian carvings below are examples of  items disassembled from a large assemblage.

Remains of hairpins



Bottom most piece of a fish had been reworked by me into a dangle.

Hair pin shaped as a sword at one end and a fish at the other.



Hairsticks are the most basic design of hairpins and usually consist of a simple gilt or silver stick topped with a  jade charm. The five sticks shown below are examples.

Hairsticks with small jade charm tops



Many of these jade tops  get detached from the original sticks as the silver and gold content of the sticks can be melted down and converted into money. The remaining jade tops are  then recycled as jade charms, pendants, or amulets.

Small jade charms recycled from hairsticks



Lotus because of its association with purity and spirituality was a favorite design for milady's hairpin. Picture below shows one intact jade stick with a lotus and five other pieces of lotus sans the sticks

Lotus jade stick with remains of five other carved lotus

 Other jade carvings used in hair accessories can range from design of flowers, birds, hands, butterflies, flower basket etc. Below are some examples



butterflies and flowers



 lotus



Bird

Beautiful hands to emphasise beautiful hair

Besides jade, carnelian was also a favourite medium for hair pin carvings.

Carnelian florets

Some of the examples shown above are often described as buttons but I suspect they may  have served multi purposes, as components in a large or complicated hairpin, as a gentlemen's pin and brooches for example.

There are also hairpins carved from a single piece of jade or carnelian which are  cool.

This curved jade hair ornament is completely plain 



Carnelian and jade hairpins

Hairpin of  a goat and a dragon



 Not forgetting my silver hairpins

Silver hairpins

And here is a rare matching pair of insects with imperial green jade for the wings, coral for the eyes and pearl for the body set in silver gilt.

A pair of hairpins collected from a heritage house
 in Swatow, South China.



Finally my most elaborate hair ornament which I daresay is a reworked piece judging by the rather rough workmanship, nevertheless, still an exotic piece.

Hairpin made of carnelian, jade, coral twigs,  pearl and glass charms



This semi circular hairpin is composed of three bis (2 of white jade, one of carnelian) a pair of jade deers,  small coral and pearl beads, emerald green glass beads, a white jade flower, 2 small carnelian pendants, a pair of coral twigs,  a pair of carnelian bats and a pair of white jade carvings of  a bushy tailed squirrel guzzling on a nut .....oh  what an eclectic and enjoyable piece !

The central silver stick has the Chinese characters Ai Yu Zhou  (Love Jade Manufacture) inscribed on it.