Antique Oriental Designs for Free Friday!

Antique geisha coffee card

antique sewing, thread collectors card

I have always been infatuated with the orient, since the rare visits to my great-grandfather's house as a child. It was filled with extraordinary things that he brought back with him from Japan when he was stationed there after the war. He had the most amazing Geisha dolls encased in huge glass boxes..tall black lacquer screens with mother of pearl inlay scenes played out in intricate detail. And always, he sent me home with some little thing I coveted, mostly some of the favorite porcelain chop stick rests I'd run my fingers over, from his burgeoning collection. He kept them all in a large, square low-walled wooden box on a stand; just kind of jumbled up like a heaping miniature treasure hunt...and I was always amused as I dug through them...nimble little fingers rummaging through them to find the oddest shapes and funniest things like chickens and curved up fish and strange vegetables. My fave was the deep purple eggplant one...I was so proud of my treasures when I got home to Florida to show them to my friends. I've been enamored with Oriental/ Asian themed things ever since. I feel strangely like it is a part of me somehow. I am so irresistibly  drawn to the culture and the beauty of Japan.

This assemblage necklace I made is in my Etsy shop. I created it with a gorgeous medallion made from the impression of a very large (very coveted) antique metal Geisha button from myown collection. The original antique button was later made into a special cuff bracelet for a up and coming project. This particular necklace I've named "Her Ghost".

oriental vintage assemblage Geisha necklace

My pottery artist friend Michelle Stambaugh used the button stamp she made to create a gorgeous pottery stamp, and in turn she made the most beautiful cobalt blue washed medallion...I just could not resist its ethereal beauty.

"Her Ghost" ,a geisha necklace, vintage brass fan, vintage glass bead chain

and this Lovely Geisha cuff bracelet that I made for a very special project...

antique geisha button cuff

Thank you for being here! Hope you can us the vintage Oriental/Asian ephemera for a nifty project.