Mystery Bead Contest
June, 2013
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How the Contest Works: Each month, the Bead Society will post a picture
of a "mystery bead" on this page. The beads shown will be well known
types such as those Peter Frances called Celebrity Beads. These are
beads with a history, beads that have inspired those who own them and
wear them.
Identify the bead by name and/or a proper description, then write
it on a on a slip of paper with your name at the next meeting of the
Bead Society. Your entry will be placed in a hat for a drawing, and you
could win a prize. So check on this page on the website often.
You could be a winner!
All of our mystery beads are graciously researched and supplied by Joan Eppen
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Here is a mixed strand of interesting lamp work beads in different styles, some with foil inclusions.
At our Bead Society meeting on May 1st, I brought more examples of beads including these, and all of
these beads have one thing in common, besides being made of glass. They are all contemporary beads made in China!
(They were bought in Los Angeles, at the gift show, some from Tucson, some at JoAnn and Michael's stores, or at our bazaars.)
As noted by Tim Miekle, many of these bead styles are similar to beads we are familiar with. For a while, beads with
patterns of multiple eyes and bumps imitating ancient Warring States beads were easy to find. Beads of this replication
of an ancient style are all made by one family in China. (Lois Rose Rose, personal comment).
Long time member Julie Ann Palmer submitted the winning answer and won a prize.
She said it was the first time she had ever participated!
The Chinese bead makers have not only used lamp work. They employ faceting similar to that used in Swarovski crystal.
Some beads are treated with metallic coatings. There are Chinese chevron beads in color combinations never used by the Italians.
There are millefiori that are Chinese inventions, quite unlike their Italian predecessors. Fiber Optic glasses have been used
in China in all colors, for charms, marbles, spheres, and beads. They have a silky sheen that runs in one direction.
The Chinese make these beads so much more inexpensively than Venetian and Czech bead makers today, making the competition
fierce. They are cheap and gorgeous - and it is all to the bead buyers advantage!
Joan Eppen
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