Chinese Reeled and Plied Silk Thread

The Mystery of the Mandarin Court Bead

People who know me will know that I love a good mystery... from Sherlock Holmes to Miss Marple and Joe Leaphorn... and for many years I have been puzzled by finding fabulous Chinese beads with holes that were so large that no standard thread was large enough to create a knot between the beads.

Bead people know that valuable beads and pearls are always strung on silk cord, knotted between each bead.

Last year I found this fragment of  a Mandarin Court necklace... hollow carved bone beads...with a thread that I had never seen before. The 4mm hole in the bead was filled with a thread many times thicker than any commercial silk thread I have ever seen.

 

As my interest in collecting Chinese ornaments grew and I acquired more partial and complete court necklaces, I kept promising myself that 'someday soon' I would get back around to finding out more about that mysterious thread. 

So finally this week I showed the thread to my fibre consultant Laurie Goldiuk who explained to me that this thread is handmade reeled silk... silk drawn from the cocoon of the silkworm ...multiple cocoons were simultaneously reeled and plied to create the thread you see here.

Mystery solved ...because so many court necklaces were cut up in the 20th century, the original thread was often discarded ...court necklaces were prayer beads and wouldn't be knotted ...and this thick plied silk used with the large holes would allow some movement of the beads and protect the precious stone beads from damage.

If you have a bit of time, there is also a very good web site [link] that illustrates the fascinating process that Asian artisans have used for centuries to produce silk.

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Chinese White Jade Caving

The figures, bald and smiling are commonly referred to as the Heavenly Twins or Hoho Twins or Hehe-Erxian Twins...they symbolize perfect partnership and express the idea that harmony is more profitable than strife … so for centuries they were offered as wedding gifts in China.

This lovely example gives me an opportunity to compare two similar jade carvings... this and one from the  07-06-01 Chinese Wedding Set-Jade and Silver post.

 

The one on the left is from the previous post...the current piece is on the right.

Both pieces are white jade, both are hand carved and reticulated.. but this example is rarer than the first…the jade is a finer stone with more luster and the carving is more elaborate; all the edges are fully rounded and both sides of the stone are fully carved with the same scene … a tour de force of carving.

The custom gold frame is a later addition …and reflects the value the owner placed on this piece.

c.18th-19th century, carved white (mutton fat) jade Heavenly Twins... set in 20th century custom made 14KYG frame. Frame: 4.5cm x 5.8cm, Jade: 4cm x 5.5cm, Thickness: 5mm.

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Chinese Silver Jade Set by Liu

In the world of Chinese silver jewelry and ornament, very few individual craftsmen have been identified.

Many dramatic pieces like the large enamel or Daoist Wedding Bracelet would logically have been the work of several artists ... a silversmith, a specialist in enameling and a stone carver ...so each piece is the product of a workshop not an individual artist.

 

So I was excited when I found this set... with the name of its artist... the same artist who set the sapphire and seed pearl necklace I featured in my December 06, 2007 post.

Liu has a distinct personal style ... no repoussé or carving ... his delicate floral's and figural symbols are engraved on vermeil. The style suggests to me that he worked in the period between 1890 and 1920 when this lighter style was very popular in western markets.

 

The quality of the stones he uses in the pieces I own...the fabulous sapphire ...the high grade translucent jade, also suggest that his work was primarily custom made. Thank you Mr. Liu!

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