Real cinnabar comes from mercury bearing ore and has been used for hundreds of years as a pigment for coloring various substances, especially laccquer. Cinnabar products including beads used to be made of wood covered by many coats of this red lacquer, which was then carved with floral, geometric designs or auspicious symbols.
Both because of the health dangers of mercury and the high cost of the lacquering and carving process, today’s cinnabar beads are made from a substance like polymer clay.
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