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vintagechamber · ‎07-31-2017

Does anyone know anything about this hand-painted wooden bead necklace? It's about 32" long and the largest beads are 1 1/2" to 1 3/4" long. I've searched online and haven't found anything like it. It's strung on a double strand of thread/string. The varnish has yellowed. The beads look individually hand painted, and the clear lacquer has yellowed. I'm wondering if it's American hippie-era or from some other part of the world and era.

debora_34_ · ‎07-31-2017

Interesting. Never seen anything like them. Not hippie-era beads. I'd put them to early 1960s and suspect they're from one of those countries that works with wood. Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, etc. Some of the designs may be traditional which could help you identify.

Debora

vintagechamber · ‎08-01-2017

Thank you Debora. I have a feeling you are right about being European. After looking at the photo again, I could see an Eastern European or Scandinavian influence, which I hadn't thought of. I'll do some more research along that line. Thank you again for your help.

orascottage · ‎08-01-2017

I'm new to jewelry but my 2 cents: it looks Swedish. My grandma's grandma came from Sweden. I did lots of reasearch into "typical" Swedish arts, crafts, cultural traditions, etc. Of course it could be any Scandinavian country but it just rings Swedish to me.

debora_34_ · ‎08-01-2017

You may well be right.

Debora

vintagechamber · ‎08-02-2017

Thank you luckyfreejunk6. I did a little more online searching for typical and traditional Swedish painted designs/folk art -- also Norwegian, Polish, Slovak and Ukranian, and couldn't find any motifs that looked quite like the beads, but it does seem that they look closer to some of the Swedish folk art I found. Thank you again for your input.