{"product_id":"cloisonne-vintage-round-medium-blue-12mm-flower-power-style-sold-individually","title":"Cloisonne, Vintage Round, Medium Blue 12mm \"Flower Power\" Style, Sold Individually","description":"\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThese beads are priced and sold individually\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVintage cloisonne round 12mm medium blue 1940s Flower Power style\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhen I first saw the bold flowers on these beads my mind went straight to the 1960s: Mary Quant, Twiggy, Carnaby Street, and Flower Power everywhere. It turns out though that this style is from the 1940s! They are part of a stash my sister Pat bought from a Chinatown retailer who was retiring. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThough 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.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe second image shows the laborious steps use for making these beads\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe technique was widely used in China during the Ming (1368-1644) and Ching Dynasties (1644-1912).\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTo make these beads2 cloisonné, copper wire is soldered to the beads raw copper surface to create tiny compartments, or \u003cem\u003ecloisons.\u003c\/em\u003e 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. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAfter the enameling phase, the copper wires are gilded, and the object is polished multiple times with finer abrasives until perfectly smooth to the touch.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOn 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\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Beadazzled.com","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50928572891445,"sku":"ASP-90","price":1.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0269\/4388\/1301\/files\/ASP-90.jpg?v=1747686798","url":"https:\/\/www.beadazzled.com\/products\/cloisonne-vintage-round-medium-blue-12mm-flower-power-style-sold-individually","provider":"Beadazzled.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}