Clooisonne, Vintage Oval Beads, Brick Red with Flowers 11x9mm, Sold in Sets of 4
Sale price
$2.50
Shipping calculated at checkout
71 in stock
Description
- These beads are priced and sold in sets of 4
- Vintage cloisonne, brick red oval with multi-color flowers, 9x11mm
- Though the word is French, cloisonné refers to a form of decorative art usually associated with China or Japan. It has been applied to boxes, vases, and beads.
- The second image shows the laborious steps use for making these beads
- The technique was widely used in China during the Ming (1368-1644) and Ching Dynasties (1644-1912).
- Most of the beads on this website are vintage "old stock" dating from when China opened to the west in the 1970s. I buy them from dealers I've worked with for decades and each time I visit supplies are lower. Some also come from a collection my sister Pat bought when long time DC Chinatown dealer retired. Some of these are older dating from the 1940s. See "Flower Power"
- In cloisonné, copper wire is soldered to the beads raw copper surface to create tiny compartments, or cloisons. These are then filled with ground glass blended with metallic oxides to produce colorful enamels, then fired. The glass shrinks as it melts so this process has to be repeated several times, sometimes with additional colors blended in.
- After the enameling phase, the copper wires are gilded, and the object is polished multiple times with finer abrasives until perfectly smooth to the touch.
- On this website I distinguish between vintage cloisonné which is made as described above and Enamel which is a similar process, but with fewer steps and less fine finishing