Rita's remarkable collection, available on ritaokrent.com, reflects her profound interest in beads and related artifacts, and her multiple opportunities to live abroad and travel in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and China. On each trip she searched for ancient and antique beads and pendants, for small antiquities and for unusual collectibles. She used ancient and antique materials such as amazonite, amber, amethyst, coral, faience, glass, horn, ivory, jade, jet, shell and silver, combined with a related pendant, to design ethnic, one-of-a-kind necklaces, using her own hand-made, sterling silver hook-and-eye clasp. Her necklaces are known internationally and were the subject of a feature article in Ornament Magazine.
Rita collected ancient glass and stone beads from many places, including Egypt, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Indonesia, China and Africa. She assisted Robert Liu in the writing of his fascinating book “Collectible Beads” by making her bead resources available to him. Rita's collection includes ancient eye beads from the Middle East, Mali, Mauritania and Indonesia. It also includes dzi beads, pumtek beads and Warring States beads from the Far East, as well as ancient and antique beads from the African trade, such as chevrons and marbles, and African-made beads, such as Kiffa and Bodom beads. Rita acquired a large collection of Early Islamic Period glass beads, by purchasing a complete collection in Damascus many years ago.
During more than ten trips to Cairo, as well as from various other sources, Rita acquired many Egyptian, Roman, Persian, Afghan, Chinese and pre-Columbian antiquities. She dealt with traders from Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and other parts of Africa for more than twenty years, providing her with a wonderful collection of African Trade Beads, as well as unusual African wood and ivory carvings and masks. Her customers, both collectors and designers, come to us from all over the world.
Rita died on June 23, 2005 after a long illness. The website and business have been run by her husband, David, for many years. The website is now run by their daughter, Jocelyne Okrent, based in Tempe, AZ.
Rita's artistry and talents live on through the website and through her collections of beads, original necklaces, pendants and antique items. Thank you for visiting our website!
