Posted 11 years ago
wpj
(138 items)
Always a favorite of mine are these tiny, tiny, carved coral beads which are shaped like rolling pins. Who would sit there and make these things?
Just amazing. The beads are seen in antique jewelry books dating them
back to pre-1830. Here is an example in angel skin coral and deep orange
coral. Usually a minimum length of 48 inches, there are literally 5000
plus beads in these necklaces.
I think the longer ones must have been looped around the neck twice and
the 48 inch ones once and knotted. Like how we wear scarfs now.
OOOh! Angel skin ones are so rare! They seem to be in very good condition.
They were certainly threaded by children with good eyes and... tiny fingers!
The thing I can't figure is how were they threaded, as holes are just the size of the silk thread! Impossible to do with a needle and the double thread!
Griffin's silk ready to thread is too short for such a length.
If you have a tip, let us know!
I do have a tip. I have actually re-strung some of these. The orange one in the photos I re-strung with Griffin Size 0 or 1. I do them in sections according to the length of the thread and knot at the larger bead stations. This way one can not see the knots. I also knot periodically within the strands so the whole strand won't be lost if something does happen to break them. These get to be a little heavy so the knots help ease the stress from the weight.
I have seen one that was an alternating mixture of the angel skin and the red/orange coral. It was gorgeous.
PS
All of ones I have had the privilege to re-string have also been very dirty. I put all the little beads into that diamonds and pearl blue cleaning liquid that comes with
the Radiance 2000 tarnish remover. Let them soak and swish them around and almost all of the dirt will come off.
Thanks for the tips! Good work, wpj!
Beautiful!