PLS IDENTIFY BEADED STRAP NA?

I picked it up about 10 years ago at an estate sale. No info was available. I showed it to a friend who deals in Navajo and Pueblo NA collectibles and they did not think it was NA although I thought it might be a Plains bandolier strap when I bought it. Approx 33” x 2.25” Any thoughts to origin and age appreciated. TIA

 

And a wonderful and safe 4th to those that celebrate the day!

 

Beautiful.
This may sound strange, but Romanian traditional beading can look like NA. I used to have a Romanian beaded belt, and most people thought it was NA.
Not saying this is, but it is worth looking into.

 

TY so much. I had just started nosing around more and think it may actually be Ukrainian because of the edgework which was throwing me in the first place. I think value just went from something to nothing LOL but I’m part Ukrainian (and part Romanian) so maybe there was a reason I bought it. No idea what I should do with it though-just thought it as beautiful work.

 

Thanks again AJ. I think I answered my own question LOL. Looks like Silyanka Gerdan which I had never heard of til now. Any idea of age?

 

I don't know, it also depends on how much use it saw and how long it was cared for. 1930s maybe?
@Natasha is Ukrainian and knows a lot about folk art, maybe she can tell us more.
I agree, it is beautiful. And with a Ukrainian/Romanian background, it means so much more to you if it is from one of those countries.

 

Hello reader,
your beaded strap looks beuatiful but, sorry, it is not Ukrainian. First, a few elements of the ornament is not typical for Ukrainian gerdan. I've checked the book I have and did not find those elements. And second, and most important, gerdan never had leather back side. Beads are from both sides as they were used as necklaces or beaded collars. Yours seems to have beads over leather lining. For me it looks more like a belt, not gerdan.

 

It might be mentioned that this was made on a bead loom and then attached to the leather backing. Bead looms were widely available craft items from the 1950s onward, and often came with suggested patterns loosely based on native American or even Ukrainian designs.
This means that it could have been made by almost anyone; home craftsperson; cub scout; or even a native American, as bead looms were used by some native craftspeople to produce souvenir items - and their designs were not necessarily based on actual native designs either. Some were; some weren't.
I've got a frame containing 200 small "thunderbirds" made on a bead loom for a trading-post in the Midwest, circa 1950. They were intended to be stitched to a leather backing for sale to tourists as bracelets, and are believed to be native-made. But as far as authentic, the design of the thunderbird simply isn't; likely someone at the trading-post on the reservation provided the design, and told those natives working for him "make me 1,000 of these."

 

Thanks everyone. You folk are amazing and so generous with your time and knowledge-I’m so appreciative. I always thought it was a strap and didn’t realize that term applied to necklaces only that are not backed. I may never identify it. Perhaps I’ll just frame it one day and hang it on a wall although if it can be identified I’d love to know the country of origin for my own education.

Romania had been mentioned once before but I could find nothing that I thought looked similar where the design work and edging on mine reminded me of several Ukrainian pieces I discovered in my searches but yes, mine is definitely not made in the same way as the examples posted by Natasha. I just love beadwork and think those are all gorgeous.

 

@Natasha
My maternal grandfather was from Kiev and I was very close to him so I had hoped this was a “roots” piece lol. I never knew the Romanian grandparents.

 

I think beadwork is generally undervalued. It takes so much time and patience and results in such beauty.
I used to do it, I know what it takes. I not only made a design, but had to calculate how to get all the beads in their proper place.
Here is a Dutch antique beaded reticule, or drawstring bag, hand-knitted with micro-beads:


The beads are strung in perfect order on the thread before knitting, and as you knit, the pattern appears.
A detail with a euro coin. I took that picture to show the small hole when I listed it, but now it serves to show how tiny the beads are (if you know how big a euro coin is)

 

My eyes ache just thinking about what it took to make that bag AJ. It’s beautiful. I agree that fine beadwork is terribly undervalued and under appreciated. In my experience only fine NA beadwork brings high prices. Some of the master NA bead artists who show during Santa Fe Indian Market can get $30,000 plus for a pair of boots but they’re few and far between.

 

I had an addiction for Victorian beadwork for many years and consequently my house is full of it, I also collected antique beads and I have repaired and restored countless pieces some taking weeks.
I don't collect it so much now unless I find something out of the ordinary.
I still love antique beadwork though

 

@reader,
to be sure I will check again with bead masters from the Union of Folk Artists who might give me some more ideas.
Also, did you ever check your family roots in Kyiv/Ukraine? Maybe you still have some relatives here.

 

@Natasha
Thank you so much. I really am intrigued by this piece and can’t tell you how much I appreciate your efforts.

I’ve never looked into my European or Ukrainian roots. All my relatives who got out fled for their lives. I doubt that I have any living blood relatives outside of the US.

 

Hello @reader,
As promised, I've checked on this piece with the people who work with beads. They cannot identify it as Ukrainian. Most likely it is from Romania or Bukovyna (part of Ukraine that was under Romania). Also, they noticed that it is not hand made, rather "woven" on a special device similar to the one they use to make woven carpets. Then it was sown on leather lining. That's all I could find out.

 

@Natasha,

I can’t thank you enough for all the time you’ve spent on my strap. I know much more about it now than I did and it’s interesting to know that it is from the same general part of the world as my family.

 

I did a lot of beadwork - woven necklaces and loom work - back in the late 60s early 70s. It amazes me to look at Eboo and see so many beaded pieces listed as NA when they are clearly not. Your belt is very nice, but I'm not seeing a traditional NA design. It does look European to me.

 

We’ve established that it’s definitely not NA and possibly is Romanian. Back into the drawer it goes and I have no clue what to do with it.

 

Hi, I came across this topic while searching for some info on porcelain from Kiev. Although it´s a bit late to participate in the discussion, I would add my opinion. It is very interesting to see your belt, and I think that by colour scheme (yellow background) as well as the selection of ornaments it can be from Bukovyna, Ukraine (I´ve found the gerdan that you mentioned - the author claims it´s a copy of one made in Bukovyna, though I would say it´s rather an interpretation). Leather would be Romanian influence - Southern part of Bukovyna is Romanian while Northern became Ukraine in 1940.