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47 pages
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ABOUT THE BOOK
(See also Fact Paper 20, Ornament and the Jews)
(Author’s Notes)
A bead pin is a bead on a stem, to be worn as a hatpin or stick pin. Because my clients include many museum stores, I label each custom bead pin that I make with information about the material, age, and origin of the bead, relevant to each museum’s collections. This study was begun in response to a request by a buyer for a Jewish Museum store. She wanted to sell bead pins, but she could only carry items that related to Jewish history. When I began research to produce and label Jewish related bead pins, I expected to spend a few weeks and find just enough material to fill a one inch by three inch label... Instead, I have spent twelve years on what will be an ongoing study, and discovered that bead history is rich with Jewish participation... and connected to many other htmlects of Jewish experience.
I also found that the practice of beadworking translates well to the process of learning and research. By treating facts as though they are beads which can be strung out and restrung, it is possible to use these "pearls of wisdom" again and again in many combinations.
Contents
- Authors Notes
- Using the Guide
- Definitions
- The Skills Required
- Beads are Man’s First Ornament
- Glass History is a Window on Jewish History
- Bead Background
- Feather Art Glass
- Millifiori/Mosaic Glass
- Dutch Bead Discovery
- Blown Glass History
- Sumptuary Laws
- Jewish Sumptuary Laws
- Manuscript Illumination
- Bohemian/Czech Glass Tradition
- Costume Plate
- Bead Sellers
- Pearl Merchant
- Notes from the Rhode Island Jewish Society
- Materials and Manufacture
- Ongoing Use of the Guide
- Bibliography
An excerpt from the section entitled:
The Skills Required
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This costume plate depicts the Jewish High Priest and his assistants with the garments, ornaments and ceremonial artifacts described in the Torah, Exodus 25:1 to 39:31.
Among the skills required to make these sacred items:
- The casting of gold and silver
- The forming of gold and silver wire rods
- The fashioning of gold and silver thread
- The smithing of copper and brass
- The cutting and setting of precious stones.
- Engraving
- Spinning and dyeing thread
- Weaving and sewing
- Woodworking
- The making of incense....
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An excerpt from the section entitled:
Glass History is a Window on Jewish History
The same technology that colors vases and window panes brings rainbows to beads such as the cut glass beads in this Star of David. Glassmakers who first reflected the rainbow include Meyer Oppenheim of Hungary, who invented ruby and garnet red glass in the 18th century. Bristol Blue glass was developed by Lazarus and Isaac Jacobs. Isaac became Glass Maker to His Majesty, George the Third of England.
It is important to look at the many uses of glass in order to understand what Jewish glassmakers have really accomplished. They have contributed to the art, and to the technology of glass. For example, they have made eyeglasses, lenses for cameras, microscopes and telescopes, chemical and medical equipment, flat glass, broad glass, crown glass for windows, bottles and jars for food, drink, cosmetics, perfume, tableware and cookware, mirrors and glass mosaic tiles....
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image 25 |
An excerpt from the section entitled:
Bead Sellers
Jewish Bead sellers would have been found in caravans and royal courts, at village fairs and town bazaars, on sailing ships at trading posts and walking country roads.
Some were considered peddlers and had a peasant clientele. Others were known as gem experts, acting as advisors to kings, even during periods of overt Jewish persecution.
Along with beads, their wares might have included all manner of gemstones or trimmings or trade goods.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lois Rose Rose is a designer/artisan. At her studio in Los Angeles she creates jewelry from a large collection of beads and custom findings. Rose also makes ornaments incorporating computer generated or scanned images of textiles, tiles and antiquarian books.
As a leading fashion show producer, coordinator and commentator, she has worked extensively with couture, ethnic and collectible costume.
With designs by her mother, Bea Cole, she screen printed and produced a collection of needlepoint with drawings by Bea Cole. She authored A Source Book of Fringe Designs. Rose’s works in progress are Beads and the Bard, and The Search for Solomon’s Knot.
Rose developed and taught the course History and Design of Ornament for the University of California at Los Angeles.
Lois Rose Rose is a past president and board member of the Bead Society, Los Angeles, and is a lecturer for the Speaker’s group of the Hebrew History Federation Ltd.