Sohan jewels

01/03/2015

16/02/2015

η αφίσα της έκθεσης στο προαύλιο του Μπενάκη της Πειραιώς!

15/02/2015

H Όλγα Βενέτη φορώντας ένα κολιέ στα χρώματα της θάλασσας από την έκθεση της Πάρου.

05/02/2015

«Χάντρες του Χρόνου» τιτλοφορείται η έκθεση κοσμήματος της Σοχάν Μαρίας Σπινθουράκη που εγκαινιάζεται την Παρασκευή 13 Φεβρουαρίου στο Μουσείου Μπεν...

20/01/2015

Στο πλαίσιο του κύκλου εκθέσεων εφαρμοσμένων τεχνών «Αναζητήσεις στην Ύλη», που διοργανώνει το Πωλητήριο του Μουσείου Μπενάκη στο Κτήριο της οδού Πειραιώς, εγκαινιάζεται την Παρασκευή 13 Φεβρουαρίου η έκθεση κοσμήματος της Σοχάν Μαρίας Σπινθουράκη «Χάντρες του Χρόνου».

Στο πλαίσιο του κύκλου εκθέσεων εφαρμοσμένων τεχνών «Αναζητήσεις στην Ύλη»

18/11/2014

necklace made of a variety of clear Bohemian glass beads
(mostly watermelons and tabular), moulded opalescent bicones, old glass beads found in Africa and three old amber beads
early 1800s to mid 1900s, 213 S

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website www.sohanjewels.com

10/11/2014

necklace made of a variety of Islamic beads plus some opal “Russian blue” beads;
the Islamic beads are dated between 1200s and 1600s and the “Russian blues” mid to late 1800s
503 L

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website www.sohanjewels.com

11/10/2014

...just to remind us of sea in the summer!

necklace made of a variety of Bohemian clear and opalescent
vaseline beads in blueish and greenish colours and two Venetian tabular big size millefiories
1800s to mid 1900s, 217 S

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website
www.sohanjewels.com

08/10/2014

one of the bracelets I made early this summer in Paros...

bracelet made of five rare Venetian feather beads, four oval Cornaline d’ Aleppo white hearts, twelve red faceted old Bohemians, some excavated faceted wound and five rows of Venetian striped and seed beads
early 1800s to mid 1900s, 131 B

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website
www.sohanjewels.com

05/10/2014

Thank you SOUL! Thank you KORA! Thak you TASSOS! Thank you DFINE!

-Shooting for SOUL magazine wearing Marias Sohan Spinthouraki jewlery 1.

03/10/2014

bracelet made of five rows of Mauritanean engraved shell beads (people used them as hair ornaments and dress decorations in great festivities such as weddings, war celebrations etc) plus six very old Venetian trade beads (eye, feather, king, fancy and arabesque type)early 1800s to mid 1900s, 311 B

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website
www.sohanjewels.com

03/10/2014

bracelet made of a variety of Venetian striped beads and three silver “milagros” (miracles, from the West coast of Mexico)
early to mid 1900s, 420 B

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website
www.sohanjewels.com

03/10/2014

bracelet made of Bohemian “Russian blues” of different sizes and colours, green old glass beads, one Venetian small king, some striped beads and seven extremely rare Islamic eye beads
early 1800s to mid 1900s; the Islamic beads are dated mid 1500s,
222 B

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website
www.sohanjewels.com

03/10/2014

bracelet made of one row of Venetian very old chevrons and two rows of different fancy beads
early 1800s to mid 1900s, 127 B

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website
www.sohanjewels.com

03/10/2014

a text about the beads I am using for my jewels:

Antique beads are tiny, enduring and beautiful works of art which connect us to the history of the human race. They reflect the desire of people everywhere to create and adorn themselves with fine objects which emulate human experience through time.

Historically, beads have influenced the growth of early trade routes, having been used as a form of barter; they secured marriages; provided a sense of healing and protective comfort; celebrated important seasonal changes; and commemorated victories in wartime.
Numerous cultures across the globe still integrate beads into their everyday and spiritual lives.

The term “trade beads” typically applies to beads made predominantly in Venice and Bohemia, as well as other European countries, from the late 1400s through to the early 1900s, and traded in Africa and the Americas. Many of these beads have been identified as having been made in Germany, France and the Netherlands.

Nevertheless, most of these beads, although historically produced in Europe, are commonly associated with West Africa, as they were the most sought after exchange unit in the African trade.

“Venetian trade beads” are among the most popular and widely recognizable beads in the world. Originating in Venice during the 1500s, these beads, including chevrons, white hearts, millefioris and fancies, set the standard for the modern glass beadmaking industry.

The popularity of these beads was revived in the late 1960s, when they started being exported from Africa into the United States and Europe. The term “trade beads” became very popular during this period and is still used as a bead reference.

Today these beads are more popular and collectable than ever. Thousands of them are in private collections, a favorite of collectors worldwide. African bead traders have to go deeper and deeper into Africa to find more of these beads, while many styles which were readily available just five years ago, can no longer be traced today.

Exceptional museum collections of trade beads can be found at the Museum of Mankind in London, the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, the Murano Glass Museum in Venice, the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, the Bead Museum in Glendale, Arizona, and the Picard Trade Bead Museum in California, to name a few.

Nevertheless, beads are more than just objects in a museum. Drops of beauty with a long history kept inside their elaborate glass shell, they entice the eye to gaze at them and the hand to feel them, ultimately provoking the desire to be worn.

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website www.sohanjewels.com

03/10/2014

necklace made of a variety of African trade beads including eye, fancy, millefiori, king, yellow traded for gold, Venetian striped, old handmade silver African beads and one old hand painted pendant from India
early 1800s to mid 1900s, 126 S

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website
www.sohanjewels.com

03/10/2014

necklace made of six rows of Venetian dogtooth beads, two old amber and two big size king Venetian trade beads
mid 1800s to late 1900s, 121 S

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website www.sohanjewels.com

02/10/2014

necklace made of a variety of Venetian striped beads, some Venetian trade beads including two rare rounded “Baule face” and some handmade silver African ones
early 1800s to mid 1900s, 401 S

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website www.sohanjewels.com

02/10/2014

necklace made of old coral beads of different sizes, seventeen Venetian trade beads (eye, fancy, king, yellow traded for gold, dogtooth, feather, squiggle, millefiori, arabesque type) and two old amber beads
early 1800s to mid 1900s, 307 S

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website www.sohanjewels.com

02/10/2014

necklace made of akoso African beads, tabular Venetian gooseberries, bronze African handmade beads and old glass beads found in the Dogon area of Mali
early 1800s to late 1900s, 509 S

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website www.sohanjewels.com

02/10/2014

necklace made of a variety of Venetian trade beads including eyeand raised eye, fancies, millefiori, king, yellow traded for gold, trail decorated whitehearts, feather, arabesque type and tabular
early 1800s to mid 1900s, 102 L

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website www.sohanjewels.com

01/10/2014

A few words about my work

I have been fascinated by the world of beads ever since I was a child. Spending my summer afternoons under the vine tree in my grandmother’s house, I used to thread colourful beads onto fishing lines, the sun reflecting their light on my face.
These were my first bracelets and necklaces, which I would wear with pride, put on my dolls, give away to those I loved.

Growing up, beads became my passion and the purpose of my journeys all around the world. One day, in a Moroccan bazaar, I found the most beautiful beads I had ever come across: handmade centuries ago, out of glass, with exquisite colours.
I spent my last money to buy them. Then followed Mali, Berlin, Venice, Peru...,
I bought more and more: old shell, amber and coral beads, Islamic beads from the 1200s, antique Venetian and Bohemian trade beads from the 1500s to the 1900s.

Back home, admiring my small treasures, there came a day when I started placing my beads in a row – they seemed to me as if they were talking to one another, each one embodying a special entity: my first jewels came to life.

Joined with earthly fibres and the care for uniqueness, beads capture in my jewels the signs of time and the history of those who crafted and painted them, traded them, wore them, celebrated with them, were comforted and healed by them – those who lived with them.

Sohan Maria Spinthouraki

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website www.sohanjewels.com

24/09/2014

necklace made of a variety of African trade beads including eye, fancy, squiggle, king, yellow traded for gold, rare green colour “Russian blues” and Bohemian cornerless cubes
early to late 1800s, 125 S

for more information about Sohan Maria Spinthouraki jewels visit the website
www.sohanjewels.com