The Supremes. Vintage Rhinestones, Beads, Glass Pearls, Part 2

At the Experience Music Project, a music museum in Seattle, there is currently a fabulous exhibit for those of you who love vintage glass bits, baubles, rhinestones, pearls, costumes, and the Supremes. It is called Reflections: The Mary Wilson Supreme Legacy Collection.  This is Part 2 about my visit to this exhibit. You will find Part 1 here.

Check out the glass pearls on the Renaissance inspired gown above.  These are big, big teardrop glass pearls. Vintage glass pearls are one of my favorite vintage beads to collect and use, as well as to offer in Bumbershoot Supplies, so I just loved these.  This dress also has some interesting teardrop shaped topaz glass jewel sew ons. They have a slice taken out of the top of the jewel, so the top is like a table.

When I got home, I looked through my personal stash and discovered I have some of these topaz jewel sew ons, although mine are lucite.

I also have some of the same enormous glass pearls in my personal collection, although mine are baroque, and the ones used on the Renaissance dress were smooth.

All in all, I'm considering a return visit because it was so thrilling to see all these beautiful vintage treasures in their natural habitat.  Plus, it was really inspiring to see the designers' visions and how they came to life through the talented artisans who actually constructed these gowns.  

New at Bumbershoot Designs. Seattle Rain Drops Vintage Glass Pearl Necklace, Antique Clasp

There are a number of new pieces in Bumbershoot Designs this week, but in keeping with the pearl theme that was the focus of the Bumbershoot monthly newsletter, I offer this new necklace.  It's been a while since I have offered teardrop necklaces in the Seattle Rain series, so it was really exciting to find these gorgeous vintage Japanese glass pearls to work with.

To my mind, with classic designs the components must be absolutely top notch quality for the design to sing. These vintage glass pearls are in glorious condition for their age (60+ years) and the embedded wires allow the bead to come to a real point at the top, so the lines are really elegant.

Plus, the sterling silver scalloped chain provides such a graceful line around the neck.

I finished this necklace with an antique clasp, Edwardian, from the early 1900's, direct off the original card onto the necklace.  Yes, that's right, at least 100 years old.  Cool!

It just doesn't get much better than that!  Works like a charm too! Well, as you can see, more than 100 years later...

...Quality Guaranteed.

You will find this necklace in the vintage pearls section of Bumbershoot Designs, and if you don't, just contact me.

Vintage Beads. Works of Art With Provenance

Provenance, definition from the online Miriam Webster Dictionary

Main Entry: prov·e·nance

Etymology: French, from provenir to come forth, originate, from Latin provenire, from pro- forth + venire to come — more at pro-, come

1 : origin, source

2 : the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art or literature

In April, Bumbershoot Supplies expanded our vintage glass West German beads stock, and I want to share a bit about the history and provenance of these beads. We strive to find the best possible vintage components for your art, and I hope you enjoy hearing a bit about their history.

The concept of provenance is usually applied to great works of art, but the way I see it, it can also be applied to vintage beads.  Clearly, these gorgeous vintage bits of glass, lucite, mother of pearl, etc. are definitely valued objects and works of art in and of themselves, at least that is how I think of them.  But we also think of provenance as conveying a sense of time and place, history and ownership.  In art circles, the better the provenance, the more information we have about a piece of art, and the more confident we are that we understand its history and that it is what it is thought to be.  

Of course, beads are not of the same monetary value as a putative Cezanne, or Picasso, or Van Gogh, and they are a different type of art object entirely.  Much of the time, their provenance is quite murky, and we must rely on scanty information and expert opinion (just as in the art world) to understand where they came from and how old they really are.

However, sometimes you can really luck out!  Most of the vintage glass West German beads currently offered at Bumbershoot Supplies have a clear provenance. They were made in Kaufbeuren, in southern Germany, southwest of Munich. 
They were made in the 1950’s and remained in a warehouse there for decades, until the warehouse was closed and the contents of the warehouse were purchased by the supplier who provided the beads to me. Not too many steps involved, and a clear provenance.  Sweet!

At Bumbershoot Supplies, we usually know the decade and country of origin of the supplies we offer, because we choose our suppliers and products very carefully. We deal with reliable suppliers who can answer our questions about the origin of the supplies. We research our supplies in various ways, both online and through hard copy resource books and materials. We purchase as close to the source as possible. And we are constantly learning. The vintage West German glass beads are a real treat, since we know details about them, and that makes them special.

As we continue to bring in new vintage delights, I'll continue to share information about our supplies and what we have learned about them, in the hopes that this information enhances your experience of working with these remarkable vintage treasures.

Tell me how many beads there are

In a silver chain

Of evening rain,

Unravelled from the tumbling main...

~Thomas Lovell Beddoes

Lots of new and beautiful beads at Bumbershoot Supplies these days. We're now offering several choices of vintage 1950's West German beads. I'm showing the raindrop shaped ones in this post, but there are more, come on over and check it out!

Seattle Rain

It's raining today, first time if a few days that it has really poured. Rain comes in many forms here. Today, it looks like this:




and like this:

and like this:


and like this: