Featured Chinese millefiori?

I have been researching, but cannot find out if the Chinese made millefiori. I know they make it now, but when did they start? This has a Chinese export clasp marked Silver, it's goldwashed. The beads do not seem right for Italy....what are your thoughts? It sure looks original to me. Thank you.

 

Boy, I'd have the same question about this you posted. Chinese export clasp, I've never seen anything like this but there are a lot out there. Could be someone just used the clasp, either way the beads are very interesting. Wait for others.

 

Are the ivory colored beads also glass? (Assuming the millefiori beads are glass & not polymer clay.)

 

The yellow ones look like stone, just don't ask me the name; I had some kicking around for a while. The clasp and those Italian beads didn't start out on the same continent. I could have made that and odds are some other crafter did. They took pieces of two or three busted necklaces and made one good one.

 

Does this help to tell if some beads are glass:

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The Chinese have made millefiori type beads for centuries. Those colours look off for Italian.

 

Absolutely Chinese. Traditional Chinese Peking glass millefiore and yellow calcite beads, another Chinese favourite. Probably glass spacers.
As obb said, the Chinese have been making millefiore for centuries.
No great age, but a real looker.

 

Yes, the cream beads are glass. I will test the clear spacers. I don't think it's a craft project. Note it has those metal caps around the big beads. Do you think maybe 1960s for age?

 

How long is it? That's a clue to age.

 

No, it isn't. This is the way it came out of China.

 

Just as a generality, the presence of bead caps does not by itself rule out a craft project as they are readily available. Something I look for in trying to make this distinction is how the strand the beads are on is attached to the clasp, something I can't see well enough here to form an opinion.

 

The bead caps show age, and the string appears to.be old cotton.

 

It does not take more than a few years for findings that are anything but gold to start looking aged. After 10 years they could just as well be 50 years old. Also, if this is a craft project, maker may have assembled components of various ages from various sources. The bead caps may not have been new when the piece was made. I don't know that it is a craft item, I'm just not completely persuaded that it's not.

I would really like to see what tips were used on the cord. If they look like one of the types I used in my own necklace stringing I'll have to live with my doubt.

 

I've a fair few bits of Chinese export. This does look pretty typical.

 

It wasn't assembled in Italy, for sure. There are knot covers on the string, generally indicating factory made. But... the stringing looks all wrong for a professional job.

 

Bronwen, what are the tips on a cord? I do think this thing is circa 60s or 70s.... the cord seems old, too. Very well could be a home stringing job done back in the day.... not many people use string to bead nowadays, and that is what I like because wire doesn't lay right for me. I will have to learn beading with silk cord someday. Could be new, too.... but I don't see these goofy milefiori type beads now..... who knows. I just liked it.

 

I usually knot with waxed cording or hemp or the like. Silk gets a little fiddly and requires a needle instead of just some glue on the ends. It's more tedious than difficult.

 

The little findings used to attach cord to a clasp if not tied directly or French wire not used. Two types I used were knot cups & clamshell tips. The names pretty well describe them.

Most of what I made is knotted on silk. Sometimes I used monofilament if a design required that beads not be knotted. I seem to be unusual in actually liking to knot.

At the end of the day, what more is there to say?

 

It requires concentration and yet it doesn't. Odd but true. That's probably part of it. You can use part of your brain for something else at the same time.

 

No. 1980s maybe.
Just my guess.

Nice looking.