What are these beaded items?

Each item is 3" tall and 2 1/8" across. Relatively flat but one of them has a rigid metal rod in it, across the 3" length. The bar has a slight curve to it, making the item a little convex on the surface. Tiny seed beads adorn, as well as some larger beads. Some discoloration from age and staining.


I would like to give these to someone as a gift but would love to be able to tell her what they are. Paid $55 for the pair.

Front:


Back:


Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Just a guess... epaulets?

 

Take a magnet to the front and check for cut steel beads. If they're curved they may have been on a pair of shoes.

 

I apologize, but what am I looking for? Only one has a metal bar in the back that makes it curved. The other does not have the bar. I touched a magnet to the front and back of both pieces. The magnet reacted to the pale colored beads and to the bar in the back of the one. It did not react to the black colored beads.

 

The store where I purchased these did guess maybe shoe decorations, but since they have no clip or apparent way to attach them, they dismissed this idea. They didn't seem super knowledgeable though.

 

Which is the one with the bar (in the picture of the underside)?

 

The bar is in the item on the right (in both pictures). The bar can faintly be seen under the black ... burlap-cloth like textile. There is discoloration visible where the bar is trying to poke out of the cloth.

 

I wonder whether the other one had a bar that has been removed. It looks like the fabric still has some slack where a bar used to be (on the one on the left.)

 

Thank you for prompting me to look closer. I've been inspecting that one a lot but have made a new discovery. The one on the left (which looks lumpier on the back) flexes in most directions *however* it also has metal in it. It has two small metal rods positioned into a "V" shape. Each bar of the V is rigid however the two pieces of metal are not connected together, so it can be lightly flexed along the direction of the V's point. In the second photo, the V points to the left. Like a < sign.

 

Shoe decorations, almost for certain. The light beads are cut steel, so these are probably genuine antiques. There's no rust, so whoever owned these took care to not let them get wet. If the black beads are jet instead of glass, you got a really good deal. If they're glass you still didn't do badly.

 

Understood. What likely age range if not old enough to be antique? How would they be attached to shoes and do you know if there might be a reason for the different shaped metal rods inside the pieces?

 

They were probably sewn on. The design on these says probably 1910 or thereabouts unless someone else knows better. I can't even take an educated guess on the whys and wherefores of the construction.

 

Thank you so much for your expertise and help!

 

From the left item. You can see the straight line where it wore against whatever, shoe? Also the broken stitches.



From the right item. You can see the hand stitching to hold the metal in place.



My guess is that there are two small pieces of metal in the back of each. The one on the right has come undone and the metal rods are floating around.

I'm not a fabric person or beader.
Since I see hand stitching that it not so very neat, I am wondering if these weren't someone's home project. Maybe someone needed this item to be rigid and managed to insert little rods and sewed them in place.

They may not have come from shoes, but maybe a dress, coat or other piece of apparel. Then reused for another item.
Or maybe someone did the beading themselves as well.
People couldn't always buy what they wanted. They often made their items.

Something to consider.

 

Very cool information. The two pieces of metal may have been floating around at one time but they feel very stable right now. As if they were put there intentionally, but I'm not sure.

I, too, was wondering about the ugly looking stitching since the front looks so intricate. As I look further I'm thinking the top piece was made more finely, then later, the black canvas/burlap type cloth was added over the metal and rather shoddily sewn in place.

 

Is it possible that the metal pieces originally were the same in both of them, then they somehow came loose on one piece, and the owner/wearer tried to "fix" it?

That poor hand-stitching looks like a "home job" - i.e. a not-too-skilled repair.

 

Perhaps, but they both have the same hand-stitched look. At this time my best estimate is the entire black canvas/burlap textile was sewn on at a later time than the front piece. I'm not sure when the metal rods were added since I can't see them without cutting the stitches.

 

I think these are beautiful, and have enjoyed reading this discussion. These will be a wonderful gift for a friend!

 

The bar we can't see might be the bar that was used to sew them to a shoe. The If the fabric was added later, that makes sense, especially if the bar on one was damaged and they couldn't be worn as shoe buckles any more.

 

VERY neat discussion......totally enjoyed following......and learning from others' thoughts!!!!!