Make a difference
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
A PROJECT OF A LIFETIME
When I began researching mainland Chinese beadwork in the 1990s,
people told me it didn’t exist. That I was wasting my time (and theirs).
I heard it over and over, from textile specialists and curators alike.
But I disagreed with their received wisdom.
In the early 1980s, I’d found a copy of Dorothy Blair’s book “A History of Glass in Japan,”
which showed a photo of a small beaded panel inscribed with 7 Chinese characters,
written entirely in Chinese glass beads.
The panel wasn’t new. In fact, Blair dated it to the Chinese Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
So I wondered:
If Chinese people never did beadwork, how did this piece come about?
A 1997 trip to China confirmed my suspicions.
Received wisdom was wrong.
Chinese people have made things with beads for at least three thousand years.
Glorious pieces that merit a book.
Since 1995, I’ve been doing fairly extensive research for that book on and off,
including going to China multiple times in search of evidence,
and in hopes of interviewing living beadworkers….which I eventually did.
I’ve also commissioned translations of quite a few old texts in whole or in part.
Now, I have more than enough documentation in hand,
and it’s time to finish the book.
CHINESE BEADWORK, PAST AND PRESENT
I will be self-publishing the book under the tentative title
“Chinese Beadwork, Past and Present.”
The images on this page give a sense of the pieces that will be in the book
and the high-quality photos I’ve been collecting over the last 20 years.
Because preparing a book is expensive, I’m asking for your support.
Even dollar helps defray the costs of obtaining missing photos,
hiring Chinese-language experts when necessary, and graphic design.
To thank you,
I will publish a list of Supporter names in the book.
(Or, if you’d like to remain anonymous, please let me know.)
HEADDRESSES and HAIR ORNAMENTS
While small contributions can and do make a big difference,
I’m also looking for a single donor to fund most or all of the
photography costs of the chapter I wil be working on next, entitled
“Headdresses and Hair Oranaments.”
Chinese people made thousands (millions?) of pieces in this category alone -
yet very few have been published.
Thus far, I have about 80 images to share, including Qing dynasty examples
belonging to the Palace Museum in Beijing.
If you’re interested in funding this chapter, please send me a note
and I will explain the details,
including how your contribution will be recognized in the book (if you so wish),
and how often I’ll share chapter updates with you.
Whatever your chosen amount, I thank you for your support.
It means a great deal to me.
THE OBJECTS - AND THE PEOPLE
Although my book focuses largely on beaded objects,
I also document the people who made and used them,
such as the Manchu woman just below to the left,
whose headdress blossoms with beaded flowers that may have been made with pearls.
Also, the beaded bead maker just to the right, holding an old piece of beadwork in her hand.
I met her in a coal-heated Beijing hutong home in the winter of 2000
and watched her stitch tiny coral beads in right angle weave over small wooden bead forms.
UPDATE ON EXPORT BEADWORK CHAPTER
Thanks to the generosity of several amazing women donors in 2024,
the Export Beadwork chapter is largely funded - and well underway.
Three-quarters of my research is already done, because
the Export Beadwork chapter expands upon a research paper I published in 2017,
which is posted at academia.edu:
Mainland Chinese Export Beadwork.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
I’m excited to keep moving forward on this project of a lifetime.
But I can’t keep going it alone…because I may never finish.
As the old African saying goes, “It takes a village.”
Please consider supporting my book today.
All contributions are warmly welcomed.
With appreciation and thanks,
Valerie Hector
February, 2025
Photos of Chinese Beaded Objects by Larry Sanders Visual Images, Milwaukee, WI.
Images of Chinese Women by Valerie Hector and Other Painters & Photographers.
