Carved

Carved beads are strings whose grains are decorated with hand carving: each bead bears incised patterns, textures or relief motifs. Unlike a continuous carpet, here the carving may also be accentual — on some beads or as separate bands — and the technique itself is made the centrepiece, a showcase of the carver's work. The quality of such a model depends entirely on the maker's hand: the cleanliness of the lines, the depth and evenness of the relief, the absence of chips on fine elements all immediately reveal the class. Carved beads are worked for the pleasure of touch: the relief catches softly at the fingertips, giving a rich feedback a smooth bead lacks, and invites you not to hurry but to feel out the pattern. The sound is dense, slightly muffled by the textured relief. The model's signature is handmade detail and tangible texture: beads equally rewarding to look at and to touch. The form shows best on uniform, easily carved materials that hold fine relief without chipping — mammoth ivory, dense wood, horn and bone — where the carving comes out crisp and deep and patina, over time, softly underscores every incised line.