1
Haskell construction. This is the front of an unfinished piece showing glass beads, pearls, rose monteés, and metal findings in floral and leaf shapes.
The pearls are glass beads dipped in a solution of pulverized fish scales.
A rose monteé is a prong setting for small mirrored flat back rhinestones with little crossed tubes on the bottom of the cup, allowing wires to pass through so that the stone can be wired to the backing.
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2
Back of the construction. Every piece on the front is individually hand-wired to the metal mesh backing with the wires carefully twisted to hold everything in place. In signed pieces, this metal backing would be covered with a filigree that matches the shape, then wired together.
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3
Side view of construction showing the layers -- the beads and findings, then the pierced metal, then the finishing filigree.
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4
Back of a finished pin showing the filigree and Haskell oval signature plaque (soldered to the filigree).
If you look really carefully, you can see the three locations where the filigree was wired to the pierced metal....
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5
Verdigris or the dread greenies.
Do not let anyone tell you that verdigris is good! (Some people mix it up with patina....). You can see the damage on this unfinished piece. The metal is severely corroded, and the corrosion has affected the pearls which have lost their coating. This cannot be repaired.
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6
Another example of verdigris on an earring. Metal and pearls are damaged and the wires have broken.
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7
Other side, showing corroded interior wires and a pearl that fell off as I was taking the photo.
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8
Damaged pearls. Coating is coming off. These cannot be repaired.
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9
Lovely dress clip with white beads and red glass dangles.
EXCEPT, all of the beads at one time were pearls. Someone removed all of the coating as it must have been damaged.
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10
Gorgeous dress clip with broken glass leaf. I purchased this clip and the following necklace even though unrepairable for the beauty of the construction and their history -- the owner's mother had worked at a department store in the 1930s and bought these from the Haskell jewelry counter.
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11
End of a lariat necklace with the remains of a shattered leaf. ;-(
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12
A clip such as this is well worth buying even though the tip of the leaf at 3 o'clock is broken. The remainder of the leaves are in good shape.
Note the wire at the "stem" of the lead -- this is fragile and typically where leaves break.
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