Beads have been around for a LONG time. They have been made from many different substances including clay, paper, metals, bone, shells, porcelain, wood, ivory, gemstones and glass.
Bead making is a highly valued art/skill throughout the entire world from very early times onward. Many of the skills and technics used have been hidden for centuries and if the method was revealed, the craftsman possibly risked death. Even today, some secrets are still highly valued in some countries. Some countries rationed the export of beads because there were only a few skilled workers. This of course, raised the value of the beads immensely.
HANDMADE LAMPWORK glass beads are made on a metal rod or copper wire. Molten glass is wound on the rod and then designs are added to enhance the bead. Millefiori is used to decorate many beads. It is a type of mosaic work involving many layers of glass to create a pattern and then the large design of glass is pulled out into a long thin rod and then cut to reveal the beautiful designs within. These designs are then placed onto a bead or other glass work and melted into it to create multiple complex designs in a very small space.
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After the handmade Lampwork Glass beads are made, they are then put into an oven to heat all parts evenly and then allowed to cool slowly to reduce the stress in the bead. This is called annealing and it is a necessary part of beadmaking.
After the bead is cooled, if a copper wire was used, the bead is immersed in an acid bath to free the wire , but in our American made beads we generally use a steel rod called a Mandrel which is coated with bead release, which is a type of kiln wash specially made for beadmakers, which allows the bead to come off the rod when immersed in water.
MASS PRODUCTION of beads came about when cheaper materials such as glass allowed everyone to wear beads. As far as glass is concerned, the invention of a molding process produced a perfectly round identical bead. In the late 1800's Swarovski invented an automatic process for cutting quantities of quality glass beads. Even today, workers are not able to access all parts of the factory so as to guard the secret.
Once a bead is shaped, most are tumbled in a large drum to remove the molded seam, or to add different effects depending on the medium added to the beads.
Some beads are coated with different finishes, depending on the type of material used for the bead. Color is either a part of the beads natural or synthetic material. Oxides are mixed into glass to give different colors or enamels are used to enhance the colors. Precious metals are also used sometimes, especially on handmade lampwork beads to give them a different effect.
Some Precious stones are also dyed or heat treated to enhance their colors.
Since beads first appeared over 40,000 yrs ago, they have been made on every continent from local materials. Many regions developed their own designs and technics. As under the Roman rule, the beads and technics spread through trading especially from the 15th century onwards when the world was flooded with European beads...
SOUTH and CENTRAL AMERICA have a long history of bead making traditions and technics from their natural materials such as quill and wampum. These beads were sometimes replaced by imported beads when the continent was colonized but many of the traditions have survived the ages.
NORTH AMERICAN beads were introduced to the natives by traders and explorers such as Columbus. His first act upon landing in 1492 was to offer beads to the native indians.
In EUROPE, beadmaking was present in France since 38,000 BC. It flourished with the Romans, Byzantines and Vikings.
In FRANCE the plastic bead trade replaced the 19th century horn industry.
GREECE produces silver Filigree, worry beads and many types of ceramic beads highly decorated.
ITALY evolved into a glass bead center on the Venetian island Murano and dominated the world bead trade from the Renaissance. Millefiori, chevron, seed beads and decorated lampwork glass beads are a large part of the tradition. Artists would face a death penalty if they talked of the trade. The island was isolated for just that reason. Even today, some secrets are still guarded. Most of the beads made by American Art glass artists use the very same Moretti that has been used for centuries. This glass is imported and is of high quality.
INDIA imported European beads in earlier centuries, but now produces large amounts of well done beads in metal, lampwork and wound glass and wood for a fraction of the cost of Venetian and Czech beads.
India has a natural supply of semiprecious stones such as quartz have been traded for centuries and is highly valued. Beaded jewelry plays a large part in Indian life, either worn in precious materials or imitations.
JAPAN is the center of the pearl industry.
It invented the commercial cultured pearl in the early 20th century and produces a large portion of the worlds supply. Japans mass produced beads include plastic beads in many colors and finishes. They also export top quality porcelain, rocailles and seed beads.
CHINA'S beads and materials include jade and coral as well as cloisonne beads. Also, many freshwater pearls are Chinese.
THE FAR EAST
Mass produced beads in factories and can cheaply imitate those from India and Europe. In Korea, factories stamp many beads from sheet metal.
The PHILIPPINES produce beads from shell, horn and bone. The bead maker, working from home and paid very little has an intermediary deliver the raw materials and collect the beads weekly. Various types of coral are fished off the coast and mother-of-pearl is carved or cut and inlaid as a decoration on beads.
The USES of Beads
Beads are used the world over for many different things. The word, bead, comes from the Anglo-Saxon, biddin, meaning, to pray. Rosaries, a set number of beads for counting prayers are used by over half the worlds religions.
Beads are worn as a show of wealth and a form of currency. Many of the worlds leaders had jewelry made from precious metals or stones and they could sell it in times of need.
A cowrie shell belt on some Pacific islands is actually a currency and increases in value as it changes hands.
Beads are also used as STATUS symbols. This can indicate rank, age, marital status and place in society. In Africa, a Zulu girls love letter to her love is a complicated mix of colored beads. There are 40 words for different types of Maasai beadwork.
Amulets such as eye beads are worn to deflect the evil eye. Worn as a source of luck and protection and to appease spirits. Beads were scattered on the crops in Asia to bring a good harvest.
MODERN trends
In the 19th century, a middle class market for beads developed and there came new materials and techniques such as steel, cast iron, plastics and more. This enabled more people to wear jewelry. At the end of the 19th Century, art nouveau introduced a new breed of beadmakers. Tiffany invented luminous style fumed glass.
As people demand more and more diversification in their jewelry and as demand for the "one of a kind" art beads increases more and more artists are producing the handmade American "Art Beads" such as you have seen here. Since each bead is an individual creation and some artists skills are beginning to approach and even in some cases overshadow the skills of the Venetian artists due to technology and the willingness of artists to share their knowledge, the American Art bead reflects an investment in truly wearable "One of a kind" art.
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