Dating Antique Glass Buckles from Vintage Czechoslovakia

I have mentioned elsewhere how much I appreciate the intersection of history, art and artisan craftsmanship that is exemplified by vintage beads and components.  I do enjoy discovering as much as I can about the history of our vintage supplies. These particular vintage, actually antique, glass buckles took me on a journey to Eastern Europe, to Czechoslovakia and Bohemia over 90 years ago.

These buckles are marked M. C. S. R.  The “M” is larger than the “CSR”.  Hard to see, and to photograph, but it's there.

A bit of time spent researching the history of Czechoslovakia, specifically the many names this region of the world has held over time, and I learned that from 1920 – 1938 Czechoslovakia’s formal name was Czechoslovak Republic, with the acronym CSR.  Bingo! Perhaps the “M” stands for “manufactured”. It is distinctly not part of the acronym “CSR” because it was specifically made to be larger than those letters.

We have these buckles listed as being from the 1930’s, but in fact they may be as old as 1920. In general, we like to be conservative in our estimates when we date our vintage supplies.  So in many cases, such as these buckles, the age of a particular bead, button or cabochon may be older than the date we provide.  The Bumbershoot Supplies website, www.bumbershootsupplies.com, is a good resource, because information there is formatted to provide you with the date and place of origin of each supply, as well as links to these types of history blog posts for individual items, as these posts are written. 

If you ever have questions about any of our supplies, certainly feel free to email me, Sharon at sjdurfy@bumbershootsupplies.com and  I’ll do my best to provide any information we may have.

Products related to this history can be found right here at Bumbershoot Supplies.

Bohemian Rose Matrix Glass Cabochons. History and Provenance

These pretty vintage glass cabochons have a history and a story, these are a really cool find. The original packaging calls them rose matrix, but they are more of a salmon color, with brown and white glass that together, makes each cabochon unique and gives them an organic, natural feel.

These arrived in really interesting original packaging, with the applied sticker Bohemia-Germany, the Made in Germany stamp, and the second stamp, "Released by the Joint Boycott Council". With a bit of research, I learned that after the Nazis took power in 1933, there was a wave of boycotts across Europe, eventually reaching the United States. In 1936 in the US, the Jewish Labor Committee and the American Jewish Congress, both bodies already engaged in the boycott process, joined forces and instituted a "Joint Boycott Council". This committee was one of two major organizations in the US spearheading a boycott of Nazi Germany between 1936 and Pearl Harbor in 1941. Of course, boycott efforts became unnecessary when the US entered WWII in 1941.

The original packaging thus allows us to date these cabochons to the period of time when the Joint Boycott Council was active, between 1936 and 1941.

Very pretty and rather unassuming little cabochons, but think of what was going on in the world and Bohemia when glass artisans made these - that's a story...

Products related to this history can be found right here on Bumbershoot Supplies.

Monday in Seattle. Picture and Quote for the Week. Cameo Memories

...my grandmother's locket cameo, rediscovered this past weekend...

I have only to take down this or that to flood my soul with memories.

~Dorothie Deluzy

Monday in Seattle. Picture and Quote for the Week, Graduation Inspiration

1920's -1930's Art Deco medals of achievement, from my personal collection

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

~Henry David Thoreau

Look What I Found. Inez Dawson's Edwardian Scrapbook

Isn't she a beauty?

This is a scrapbook crammed full to bursting with memorabilia collected by Inez Dawson, later Inez Barnes. I don't know if this photo is of Inez or someone she knew.

The book appears to be an abandoned nursing notebook, reused for this purpose.  It begins with nursing notes dated 1901, but quickly these notes end and then the materials are pasted into the book in lots, with the dates skipping around a bit, from 1898 through 1906, as if Inez decided one day to finally collect together in one place all those mementos she had stashed away over the years. 

There are several treasures within this scrapbook, and I have barely dipped into it.  There is so much to discover, it's like an archaeological dig. 

 I'll share some of my finds here, and we will also make digital versions of some of the ephemera available to our newsletter subscribers.

Inez's scrapbook and a cup of tea - perfect to curl up with on a rainy Seattle day.

New at Bumbershoot Supplies. Antique Bohemian Flower Cabochons and Their History

Words cannot describe how thrilled I am to be able to offer a limited number of these rare antique Czech glass flower cabochons, just arrived at Bumbershoot Supplies.

We have gorgeous ivory and pale beige-y pink in 2 sizes. These cabochons are truly a part of glass and costume jewelry history. The character of the glass is unlike anything I have seen before, the colors so delicate and yet rich at the same time, and the glass has a really gorgeous sheen.

These are so special, I want to share a bit of their history with you. Until WWII, the Gablonz area of Czechoslovakia was home to some of the finest glass artisans in the world. That is where these cabochons were made, back in the 1920's to 1930's. These cabochons, and many rhinestones also, are press molded, which means that molten glass is pressed between dies to create the shape. This was done by single glass artisans, just a few pieces at time. For these cabochons, intricately carved dies were used and the detail is magnificent and precise. The glass is pressed in what looks like big tongs and then the finished pieces are released. This may sound simple, but as I learned in Sibylle Jargstorf's book "Baubles, Buttons and Beads. The Heritage of Bohemia" success depends on many factors. First, you have to have a good die, so the collaboration between engravers and glass artists was important. Second, for the pressing, the glass must be at the correct temperature - too hot/soft or too cool/thick creates various problems. Temperature is also important in regards to color because with some colors of glass, the color changes with different temperatures. Also the die must be at the correct temperature. If it is too cold, minute surface cracks can appear on the cabochon or rhinestone. If the die is too hot, the glass will fuse to the metal and the stones or cabochons cannot be released from the mold. There are additional considerations when creating glass rhinestones, since those are faceted on both sides.  To get those beautiful facets on both sides requires an understanding of how the physics of gravity acts on cooling glass. 

For both cabochons and rhinestones, there may be many other steps after the piece is released from the mold, depending on the purpose and plans for the batch that is being made. These can include shearing to clean up the edges and facets, polishing of various sorts, beveling and foiling. All of these additional steps require the expertise of specialist artisans.

So, when I consider these vintage glass cabochons and our vintage rhinestones, I am truly in awe of the many steps involved and the many (unsung) artisans involved, all working together to bring these beautiful baubles to a finished state. I am so grateful to them for the beauty they have created and I am absolutely thrilled to have located these treasures to share with you.

New at Bumbershoot Supplies. 24 New Items Since October 1, and a Surprise!

I invite you to come on over to Bumbershoot Supplies and check out our new items.  We're over 750 vintage treasures at this time, it's really exciting.  This vintage button card is something that I didn't even know we had! I opened a box that was supposed to contain heart buttons, and found these instead. A gorgeous surprise and a lovely addition to our vintage buttons!

We've also restocked a limited number of the popular coral swirl beads from Japan, with the bead caps on the bottom, cradling the bead. These remind me of pumpkin pie and spice, perhaps since it is Canadian Thanksgiving this coming Monday and I have pie on my mind :)

We've also added two old amazing Bohemian glass items.  First, these vintage glass cabochons.  These are really interesting in terms of their history.  To see the original packaging, visit the listing at Bumbershoot Supplies.  These cabochons were "Released by the Joint Boycott Council". After the Nazis took power in 1933, there was a wave of boycotts across Europe, eventually reaching the United States. In the United States in 1936, the Jewish Labor Committee and the American Jewish Congress, both bodies already engaged in the boycott process, joined forces and instituted a "Joint Boycott Council". This Committee was one of two major organizations in the US spearheading a boycott of Nazi Germany between 1936 and Pearl Harbor in 1941. So, we know we can date these cabochons to that time frame. Pretty cool!

And these old, old Bohemian garnet or ruby glass nailheads look magnificent in the light.  They are large, 10mm in diameter and 8mm up to the point. I think they would make wonderful cabochons, as well as beads.

That's just a taste of what is newly available at Bumbershoot Supplies.  Our next newsletter on Oct 15 will provide more details. You can sign up for it here and view past issues of our newsletter on our website.  Until next time, wishing you a great weekend, and if you are Canadian or you live in Canada, a very happy Thanksgiving to you!

Antique and Vintage Kimono Fabric: Visual and Tactile Inspiration

I just have to share some photos of the gorgeous antique and vintage kimono fabrics that arrived yesterday from Japan.

Even the stamps on the package are gorgeous...

I got these from togei, a shop on Etsy. I purchased them because I am making inspiration canvases and boards with some of the supplies from Bumbershoot Supplies and I want to pair the Japanese beads and cabochons with vintage Japanese textiles.

Plus, my hands have been itching for fabric. Even before mixed media, my deepest roots are in sewing and embroidery and crochet, all of which I learned as a child.

On the left is an antique cotton, with gorgeous flying cranes. This one dates to Meiji-Taisho, where Meiji = 1868-1912 and Taisho = 1912-1926.  The two other pieces are pre-WWII silk, dating roughly somewhere between 1912 and 1939.

Plus, I was also able to purchase some lengths of very old vintage, possibly antique silk "fringe", a scalloped ribbon.  Just look at these colors! 

I've even managed to clear off my work bench and clean up my studio, so I should be able to start working with these textiles very soon. Can't wait!

Spring. Wednesday Stamper

These tags are my offering for the Wednesday Stamper challenge blog, where the theme this week is "Spring".  Luckily for me, I had been playing with some vintage French seed packet labels and stamps and last Sunday I made a few tags that fit the theme!  I also used these seed packet labels in a Spring-y tag for Art Creations Friday, and you can see that tag on my blog here.

These are tea stained tags, stamped with script and flower stamps. Copies of the seed packet labels were stitched on top, then the cards were stitched and embellished with vintage goodies: lace, mother of pearl, enamel flowers, and some of my hand dyed fabric.

Vintage Children. Art Creations Friday

This is the first time I've participated in Art Creations Friday.  I could not resist these two beautiful children, especially as the image is French and I have been working with some recently purchased antique French seed package labels. 

This is a tea stained tag, with stamps and rubons, over which are laid a copy of one of my French seed packet labels, trimmed around the flowers.  Also stitched, and embellished with vintage French ribbon (from 1943) and vintage flower cabochons.