Faturan
Encyclopedia
Faturan in Middle Eastern beadwork
refers to a variety of synthetic resins such as Bakelite used as a sort of imitation amber
to make bead
s, notably in the making of komboloi and misbaha.
, similar to Bakelite, manufactured by Dr. H Traun u. Sohne of Hamburg
. Developed in the early 20th century, it became obsolete by the 1940s.
The first Bakelite arrived mainly to Turkey was in the form of drawer and furniture knobs and handles around 1909/1911. This is the time when the first prayer bead strands made of what we now call faturan started to appear on the market.
The bead carvers, mainly in Turkey, were swift to understand that Bakelite was a material that could be well carved, had a great appearance and could imitate and replace amber. So they started making their own material mixing it with natural, vegetal or synthetic dyes, amber powder, various fillers and additives, etc. Each master also had his secret “recipe,”, even heating in various liquids and oils and making it undergo various physical or chemical processes to obtain the most beautiful aspect.
The original and genuine Faturan beads were mainly red or yellow in all its shades.
The last genuine faturan beads were made in 1940 mainly due to the Second World War when the supply of raw material became very scarce. Normally, the last genuine faturan beads date of the late 1940’s when the supply of the raw material that was sill left from the prewar stocks was terminated. After the Second World War the production stopped mainly due to the general severe restrictions that prevailed all over the world.
The demand for genuine faturan – often confused for amber - has always been great among prayer bead, tesbih and komboloi collectors. It has increased in the last ten years so much that it has attracted a great amount of “fake” faturan on the market. By “fake," collectors mean newly manufactured phenolic resin either purposefully or ignorantly presented as genuine faturan.
The result of this low-quality impostor material is that, today, there exists a very big confusion in the use of the word Faturan as well as about its meaning to the extent that practically any kind of phenolic resin is called unjustly Faturan, even those which are produced nowadays.
Genuine pre-1940 faturan - beads still intact, and in complete strands, made from one single type of material - are considered museum items and fetch extremely high prices by both institutional and individual auction bidders.
Beadwork
Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another or to cloth, usually by the use of a needle and thread or soft, flexible wire. Most beadwork takes the form of jewelry or other personal adornment, but beads are also used in wall hangings and sculpture.Beadwork techniques are broadly...
refers to a variety of synthetic resins such as Bakelite used as a sort of imitation amber
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
to make bead
Bead
A bead is a small, decorative object that is usually pierced for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under to over in diameter. A pair of beads made from Nassarius sea snail shells, approximately 100,000 years old, are thought to be the earliest known examples of jewellery. Beadwork...
s, notably in the making of komboloi and misbaha.
History
Originally, Faturan was a brand of cast synthetic thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resinPhenol formaldehyde resin
Phenol formaldehyde resins include synthetic thermosetting resins such as obtained by the reaction of phenols with formaldehyde. Sometimes the precursors include other aldehydes or other phenol. Phenolic resins are mainly used in the production of circuit boards...
, similar to Bakelite, manufactured by Dr. H Traun u. Sohne of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. Developed in the early 20th century, it became obsolete by the 1940s.
In the bead trade
In the bead trade, faturan is often thought to be a mixture of natural amber shavings with other materials, and is described as having been invented in the Middle East in the 18th or 19th century.The first Bakelite arrived mainly to Turkey was in the form of drawer and furniture knobs and handles around 1909/1911. This is the time when the first prayer bead strands made of what we now call faturan started to appear on the market.
The bead carvers, mainly in Turkey, were swift to understand that Bakelite was a material that could be well carved, had a great appearance and could imitate and replace amber. So they started making their own material mixing it with natural, vegetal or synthetic dyes, amber powder, various fillers and additives, etc. Each master also had his secret “recipe,”, even heating in various liquids and oils and making it undergo various physical or chemical processes to obtain the most beautiful aspect.
The original and genuine Faturan beads were mainly red or yellow in all its shades.
The last genuine faturan beads were made in 1940 mainly due to the Second World War when the supply of raw material became very scarce. Normally, the last genuine faturan beads date of the late 1940’s when the supply of the raw material that was sill left from the prewar stocks was terminated. After the Second World War the production stopped mainly due to the general severe restrictions that prevailed all over the world.
The demand for genuine faturan – often confused for amber - has always been great among prayer bead, tesbih and komboloi collectors. It has increased in the last ten years so much that it has attracted a great amount of “fake” faturan on the market. By “fake," collectors mean newly manufactured phenolic resin either purposefully or ignorantly presented as genuine faturan.
The result of this low-quality impostor material is that, today, there exists a very big confusion in the use of the word Faturan as well as about its meaning to the extent that practically any kind of phenolic resin is called unjustly Faturan, even those which are produced nowadays.
Genuine pre-1940 faturan - beads still intact, and in complete strands, made from one single type of material - are considered museum items and fetch extremely high prices by both institutional and individual auction bidders.