Multicolor Bakelite Long Necklace With Articulated Crib Toy Doll Pendant

Description

This stunning rare Bakelite long necklace was hand-crafted in France in the 1940s. The piece features a beaded design with … more This stunning rare Bakelite long necklace was hand-crafted in France in the 1940s. The piece features a beaded design with an articulated crib toy doll pendant. The beaded necklace boasts autumnal colors with a lovely, warm palette of yellow butterscotch, red tea amber, green moss, cocoa brown, toffee brown, caramel brown, and ginger orange, many with marbling and swirling. The necklace has brass hardware links and a spring ring closing clasp. There is no visible maker's mark.
The necklace is in excellent condition, with minimal wear on the brass links.
Measurements: The necklace's total length is 24.41 in (62 cm) - The drop is 20.47 in (52 cm) - The pendant is 1.44 in wide (3.7 cm) x 9.07 in long (23 cm).
Note: The use of Bakelite crib toys for fashion jewelry.
A new form of Bakelite called Catalin was introduced in 1929, featuring a beautiful range of colors and creating an unbelievably cute aesthetic for these children's objects.
Gone were the old-fashioned silver and ivory teething rattles of the Victorian age. In the early 1930s, children had brightly colored plastic crib toys which were safe and indestructible. The condition of many of them today attests to that.
In the United States, one of the most popular manufacturers was Tykie Toys of Piqua, Ohio, which was in business until the late 1940s. Their designs included a range of little doll characters.
Other crib toys designed included bell boys, sailors, soldiers, and black American or African-inspired characters.
There was a huge fascination for anything exotic and people from far away, and the craze for jazz meant that black musicians were trendy at the time.
New York designer Jan Carlin made stunning Bakelite jewelry out of old pieces in the 1970s.
She has made many quirky brooches in the style of crib toys.
In France, the fashion for these adorable necklaces arrived at the end of the Second World War (presumably imported from the USA). Bakelite used in jewelry is very popular, and these pieces were hand-crafted until the early 1950s.
(Credit: various websites) less