posted on April 12, 2003 11:02:27 AM
Hi there, me again...
I purchased a box full of jewelry at the estate sale of an antique dealer and this was in the box along with some other great pieces....I am trying to age this piece and find out what it is made of...
I have done the bakelite tests but it comes up negative.
posted on April 12, 2003 03:30:30 PM
I am sure that you know this aready but the beads look like wood. Maybe the pieces that are decorated are wood also but then some acrylic on top of it. Are the colored pieces painted or are they embeded glass or plastic. The beads go back to the macrame era. 1975. I think that is about the time. It is probably a designer piece by an artist.
posted on April 12, 2003 11:52:31 PM
Libra, thanks for your reply.
the beads are all plastic, including the flowers on top. they are hollow. definitely not the 70's. i bought this box in 1976 and the pieces were still on the original string but it had broken and she kept them all together in a plastic tube that they are still in. i remember when i bought it because it was right before hubby and i were married.
posted on April 13, 2003 04:58:27 PM
Since the beads are plastic, it could be late deco period. Perhaps '30s or '40s. It's hard to tell without it being strung. Libra63 is right. Had it been wood, it would have been a much later piece. I remember the wood pieces from the 1960's and 1970's. Not all Bakelite tests. Black is particularly resistent to the tests. However, I don't recommend pin testing. Should it be celluloid (which I doubt), it's flammable and could catch you on fire.
Cheryl