Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-24
EGYPTIAN NECKLACES
EXHIBIT OF SPECIMENS OF AN
GENT ORIENTAL JEWELRY.
Strings Of Beads Almost as Old as the
Human Race-Ornaments From
Pre- Christian Tombs.

OTlSHldi JcWGlTy oI STcdt iHtCfCot was
opened last week at the National Arts Club
in West 34th street, to continue through
the month. Not only is Fart nouveau rep
resented by a number of specimens from
the atelier Of J. Walter Lawrence and
Brainerd B. Thresher of Dayton. Ohio but
there is also collection of articles de-
signed and wrought by Miss Luther. Mrs.
Klapp. Miss Mary E. Pearson and Mrs.
Henry Butterworth; there are over three
hundred rings from the collection of Alex
ander w. Drake. a case OF crosses. rosaries
and necklaces lent by Mrs. William M.
Chase and a large number Of Egyptian and
early Greek bead necklaces from the col
lections Of Mrs. Garrett chatfield Pier and
Mrs. FRANKIE H. Bosworth It will be seen
that the exhibition strikes a pretty broad
gamut.
Beads are as old as the human race"
said Mrs. Pier, in speaking OF her neck
laces. They were made almost before In
tory as far as one can and pluck out Of the
bosom of time these articles OF personal
adornment is the charming thing about 1t
to me. You find the same impulse In the
beads of Egypt and in the beads Of our
North American Indians. These little disks
Of the most heavenly blue''-here Mrs. Pier
took up string of liliputian Quoits, about
one-third of an inch in diameter and of
almost fairy-like thinness-"these little
disks are cut precisely as our Indians cut
their wampum. in the days before the Yam
kee trader began manufacturing 1t for
them on Staten Island. That Is what inter
ests me so in beads-their universally and
their closeness to the very springs of our
race life"
Jewels Of Another Age.
Mrs Pier has spent the last three or four
winters in Cairo. and some of the neck
laces in her collection were brought to her
with the fresh earth still clinging to them.
After washing one new acquisition Mrs.
Pier says her hands were perfumed for
days with the spices and ointments which
still chung to the beads. And that necklace
was 5000 years old.
Among the particularly interesting pieces
In Mrs Piers collection is a necklace COM
These were made only in one place. Tel-el-
Amarna. under one king, Khu-en-Aten.
The necklace Is over 2 600 years old. These
exquisite little flowers and fruits are of
glazed pottery and were cast in molds.
Perhaps the prettiest thing about them Is
the fact that each flower and each fruit
was nodded SO perfectly that 1t has been
worked out and identified by Percy New
bury, by means of funeral wreaths, carv
ings and other representations of the fauna
of ancient Egypt.
The necklace in the photograph is COM
posed of large. irregular shaped, fiat beads.
opaque and Of rich orange pink color.
They are very rare and date from 1862
1228 B. c. famous necklace which was
bought in London is in the form of little
close fringe composed Of red sard pendants
and white glass amphorae alternating. A
handsome gold bulla forms the penda MT.
This necklace was found at Asinoe, and,
says MRS. Pier, "is charming to wear"
One very valuable string of beads is OF
lapis lazuli blue paste and gold. 1t is
thought to be from royal tomb.
Cylindrical Beads.
The earliest beads were made in the form
Of long, slender cylinders A necklace that
dates from nearly 5000 B. c. shows sue
cession of lapis lazuli cylinders with three
pendants in the front. One is an amulet In
the shape Of a heart. one is Tat anu
let meaning stability, and the center pen
dant Is scarab, the most important and
sacred of all, standing as it does for the
Immortality of the soul. A particularly at
tractive necklace, dating from the days of
the Ptolemys, Is made UP Of little square
and oblong beads of gold lapis lazun and
feldspar. Near the front are four groups of
little fiat gold beads-double beads, they
are. growing side by side like so many
Siamese twins. The effect Of the this neck
lace is Of double string of oblong beads
caught together by the square beads and
the little double gold beads.
Some of these strings Of beads are just
little cleaning, while others have been re-
strung. Some, like the necklace of blue
disks, have been bought bead by bead. The
blue disks were rare and expensive. A
few OF the necklaces have been built up by
Mrs. Pier-recomposed, one might almost
say. as, for example, the Greek necklace Of
carbuncle beads, to which Mrs Pier has
added as pendants long and gold and car
buncle earrings of the same period and
workmanship.
Popularity Of Necklaces.
These necklaces are all the time being
discovered" said Mrs. Pier. ''The Arabs
turn them up every day. The reason why
! the soil of Egypt fairly teens with them
is that the ancient Egyptian woman wore
| necklace upon necklace round her neck and
festooned across her corsage. When she
died and was embalmed all her necklaces
were again placed on her person in readi-
ness for the great day of her resurrection
| When the tombs and graves are ransacked
scores of these necklaces are found in them.
TT Is amazing what fine effects the Eeyp-
tians managed to produce from the limited
material at their disposal. They had no
diamonds, rubies sapphires or any of the
gems known to the modern lapidary. They
had to produce their effects with, paste or
pottery and stones which are now relegated
to third or fourth place In the category of
jewels. They had hematite, or iron field
spar, carnelfan. sard, lapis lazuli, amethyst,
ioot u cuicIdiu, VI eILeTdiQ matr1X and blue
and green pottery-that was about all But
think the delightful things they conceived
and carried out in these unpropitious me
diums goes to prove that we moderns are
mistaken In placing SO much reliance On
diamonds and the other precious stones
that beauty In jeweiry isn't all mere mat
ter of glitter and fash"
From the beads of ptolemaic bellies to the
| new art buckles and brooches In the other
cases may not be SO far a cry as II
seems. Mr.. Lawrence at least has frankly
awaited himself of the art of the ancients
as expressed IN their glassware. Some of
his most striking effects have been pro-
duced by combining fragments of the love
~ irtdescent glass found in Jerusalem. Cy-