Kingfisher Feather Beads, Oval Diamond Shapes Lined with Turquoise Feathers, 25x15mm, Sold Individually
SKU: ASO-248
Sale price
$65.00
Shipping calculated at checkout
Only 13 in stock
Description
- These beads are priced and sold individually
- Very rare antique silver oval beads adorned with ring of oval shapes around the widest part of the bead. 25x15mm
- Like slashes in Elizabethan sleeves that showed off layers of luxury fabrics, these wire rimmed shapes provide contrast between the silver and the feathers.
- The process is similar to the famous cloisonne techniques except that rather than enamel, kingfisher feathers were used.
- While other Chinese art forms gained fame worldwide, kingfisher jewelry was little known outside of China. The technique, known as Tuia-tsui or Diancui, has been used on hairpins, headdresses, fans, and beads for over 1000 years.
- It involved collecting and carefully cutting tiny kingfisher feathers to the desired shapes and adhering them to the metal.
- Kingfisher feather beads are even more rare than hair pins because they were made for a shorter period of time in the final days of this art form, which ended during the Chinese Communist Revolution. The last workshop specializing in Tian-tsui closed in 1933.
- The beads are in stunning condition, having been preserved in a box with special compartments like a miniature egg carton, to hold each bead protected and separated from others. They came to us with the inventory of a Washington DC Chinatown store when it closed around 2020. I'm delighted to finally offer them to you now.
- Every serious bead collection should have at least one of these!
- And they can be made into jewelry. Admittedly fragile, I recommend only using them in earrings, where they are much less likely to be damaged by contact with coarse fabrics or harder substances.