History: Czech Glass Beads

The modern history of Czech glass bead making is closely allied to the impact that the First and Second World Wars and the subsequent Cold War had on the region as a whole. The region where glass-making production is centred was formerly known as North Bohemia (hence the term sometimes used, bohemian glass).

North Bohemia had been a European glass-manufacturing centre since the 13th century because it was rich in the natural resources needed for glass-making, namely quartz (mined) and potash (from the region’s forests – and handily a by-product of the wood burned to heat the glass). The cities of Jablonec, Stanovsko and Bedrichov (modern Reichenberg) all produced glass beads, mainly for use in rosaries, but from the second half of the 16th century, when costume jewellery become fashionable, they started producing beads to be used more decoratively. The industrial revolution of the 19th century saw the development of machines that allowed mass production of moulded pressed shapes, so thousands of identical beads could be produced cheaply. The mechanically shaped beads were a real innovation in terms of glass making history, as little had changed technically for many centuries. The pressed beads were not made around a mandrel, instead a rod forming the hole was pushed into the mould, and this meant that the hole could theoretically be placed in any position and multiple holes could be introduced. The moulds allowed complex shapes to be made and by making use of patterned canes (the glass rods fed into the machine) the resulting beads could be elaborately coloured, giving the beads a slightly random appearance, even if the shape is exactly the same. Mass production saw the expansion of the industry and Czech beads were exported around the world. The actual making of the beads, on the whole, remained a cottage industry, in that machines and moulds were bought and used by individuals who would work from home to supply the companies that would trade the beads. Family homes that produced glass beads could / and can be identified by their tall chimneys and roof vents. The images below date back to 1845. 

Czech bead manufacturers also were innovative in their salesmanship and in providing the consumer with what they wanted. ‘Sample men’ travelled worldwide to speak with buyers and determine what would sell best in each market. They then returned to Czechoslovakia and advised on designs for sale to these markets. This proactive approach was highly successful, increasing the sale of and demand for Czech glass beads.

In 1918 after the First World War, North Bohemia became part of Czechoslovakia. By 1928 Czechoslovakia was the largest bead exporter in the world. However, trade was then affected by the depression that hit the global economy in the 1930s, followed by the Second World War, and it did not pick up again until the 1950s. After the Second World War Germans who had lived in the Northern Bohemia region (most for all their lives) were forced to leave the area, and those who were glass bead makers took their skills with them. Many resettled in Germany and the town Neu Gablonz was named for the bead makers that set up new businesses here.

From 1948 Czechoslovakia had a Communist government who did not see glass bead making an approved industry. They restarted the industry in 1958 only in an effort to trade out of Czechoslovakia in return for hard currency. The communists nationalised the industry, which meant the industry became factory based, rather than supporting individual home-based workers. A single state run monopoly, Jablonex, established 1951/2, controlled all exports out of Czechoslovakia involving glass and beads – at one point previously there had been over 2,000 agents exporting glass.

The Velvet Revolution of 1989 saw the end of Communist control. Czechoslovakia split into two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The region that once was North Bohemia lies within the Czech Republic.

The glass making industry has been revived, and once again supplies high-quality beads to the global market. Although it is the large operators that dominate (Jablonex still exists, now as a non producing conglomeration) there has also been a return to small-scale production by individuals supplying a local factory, using machine methods very similar to those employed in the 19th century but with improved technologies.

We at Big Bead Little Bead really like Czech glass beads. We love their colour range, quality and their heritage. They are perfect for both contemporary pieces and for recreating a vintage look. We provide the colour code for each bead – common to all Czech glass manufacturers, including Preciosa crystal – i.e. 23980 is jet black, so it is possible to search the site using this colour code to find beads.  However please note that slight variations in shade are unavoidable due to the production process and the size and shape of the finished product. Small beads and large beads made from the same glass colour can have a tonal difference, but this adds interest when the two are used together.

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History: Blown Glass Beads

We recently took a few samples of these blown glass beads as we were curious to see the quality of them before we placed a larger order across the range.  

They are Chinese glass in imitation of Murano blown beads. Although clearly not quite up there with the Italian originals, they are delicate, light and quite fabulous in their own right (and a lot cheaper!). I used some in my necklace design Spring Sublime, where they both compliment and off-set the ceramic and polymer clay beads. The zesty lemon torte colouring makes my mouth water.

Blown glass beads use some of the oldest techniques in glass making. The first artisans to discover that blowing through a tube into the heart of a blob of molten glass could produce an object with a hollow core, were Syrian craftmen working some time between 27 BC and AD 14.  It was those clever Romans who then figured out that combining this technique with a mould could create all manner of exciting hollow glass vessels and other items.  From there it is a small leap of the imagination to create blown glass beads, which can be produced singly or using a mould to produce a small run of beads that are later cut up.  Centuries later it was discovered that you could blow a decorative finish or colouring inside a transparent bead or ornament, imitation glass pearls and a gazillion Christmas tree ornaments resulted.

During the 16th century Venetian glass makers on the island of Murano started to produce blown glass items, including beads, using canes of clear glass with a central core of coloured glass. The items produced using this technique are referred to as 'filigrana', or, in English, 'filigree glass' because the resulting fine thread decoration is similar to filigree-work produced by goldsmiths. If the patterning produced is a spiral then the glass is known as 'a retorti', 'a retortoli' or 'zanfico'.  If a grid or net pattern is produced using a very difficult technique where one piece of spiral patterned glass is placed within another, then the glass is known as 'reticello'. The air bubbles trapped in each square of the 'net' are characteristic of this method.

Above: Glass Goblet made in Venice in 1896, Salviati & Co.  Glass illustrates the use of 'a reticello' technique, and clearly shows the bubbles captured between the two layers of glass.  V&A Museum, London

The Italian website www.glassway.com has footage and clear images of items being produced using the filigrana technique.  Any sound during the videos will be your jaw hitting the floor.  A scaled down lamp-worked version of this technique is used to produce Murano blown glass beads, and it is this that our Chinese beads emulate using the same methodology applied on, presumably, a larger scale.  I love the fact that something so small and unassuming is the result of the creativity and skill of artists working many centuries ago, who would recognise their own daily labour in the beads produced today.

Big Bead Little Bead currently stock the blown glass beads illustrated here. If you decide you love them like we do, then we shall expand the range when we restock.

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History: Wound Glass Beads

The earliest bead making civilisations produced beads using the wound method, indeed it is one of the first ways in which glass beads were made. Ancient cultures, such as the Egyptians, heated a crucible of glass into which they dipped a mandrel. This technique is sometimes referred to as furnace winding, because the glass was first heated in a furnace. To form the shape of the bead the mandrel was rotated to allow the molten glass to move and create a rounded shape. The bead could be shaped whilst still on the mandrel (i.e. using tools to create a shape other than a sphere – for example a cylinder - is known as ‘marvering’), it could also be decorated with the addition of other glass applied to the surface of the bead.

Lamp winding (most modern lampwork beads are based on this method) is a more contemporary technique.

A cane of glass is heated in the flame of a small hand held /table mounted lamp. The glass is wound around a mandrel as before, but there is more control allowing for more ornate or complex decoration. Generally, this method was not used much before 1750 (at least by the Venetians). The beautiful contemporary black lampworked glass bead above was made by hand and flame by Studio Marcy.

Of beads produced today, furnace wound beads often originate from India. They are cheap to make, as they can be made from glass scraps, and they are relatively quick to produce. The grouping below are all Indian made lampwork or furnace glass beads - they are large in scale, ranging from 20mm to 40mm hole-to-hole length with hole diameters of 3-4mm. The beads have been shaped by hand tools rather then moulded.

The mandrel used for furnace wound beads is generally an iron rod, because iron loses its heat faster than the glass allowing the bead to be removed from the rod. The oxidised iron leaves a deposit of iron oxide on the inside of the bead hole. Lamp wound beads also exhibit a deposit, usually a white residue, within their hole, the result of the ‘release’ applied to the mandrel to allow the bead to be easily removed from the metal rod. The bead shown below is a Japanese Cherry Brand lampworked bead from post-war Japan. The basic wound glass lampworked core has been shaped with metal snips. The hole opening shows the remains of the white coloured release used.

Murano bead makers use copper mandrels that they remove from their beads by means of an acid bath – hence, one way you can determine whether a bead is genuinely of Venetian origin is to look for a clean hole, for this method of removing the mandrel from the bead leaves no trace on the bead.

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History: Sommerso Beads

Sommerso is the Italian name for the glass-making technique whereby one layer of glass lies submerged beneath another (the literal translation is 'submerged' or 'sunken glasses'). The technique is an ancient one, but it was popularised by Venetian glass makers during the period of the 1930s to the 1950s, and in particular by the maker Flavio Poli working for Seguso Vetri d'Arte in Murano. Poli's work includes elliptical vases created by dipping a form produced in one colour of glass  into a crucible containing molten glass of another colour. A final overlay was made of clear glass. Sommerso glass production is highly skilled as it requires the maker to ensure that the layers of molten glass retain their regularity of line and that no bubbles are trapped within, or between the colours. The best glass art pieces made from this technique resemble coloured liquid held in suspension.

Image of an Flavio Poli elliptical vase from antiquehelper.com

Beads made using the same technique tend to show a looser application of colour, through the use of an abstract or regular pattern so that the layering can be readily seen. The external casing of transparent glass serves to magnify and enhance the underlying pattern and colour. Venetian sommerso beads start with a small amount of glass wrapped around the mandrel. Next comes a layer of coloured glass, small fragments of another colour, perhaps a wrap of gold or silver foil, or, popularly, swirls of aventurine (tiny copper particles suspended in clear glass). Lastly, a layer of transparent glass - generally clear, but not always - is used to encase the colours and textures within.

The beads below are Venetian sommerso beads dating to the 1950s. They contain swirls of baby blue and aventurine glass under clear, and around (as far as I can see) a clear glass core.

Sommerso type beads made outside of Italy, may be made in imitation of venetian bead styles, such as these Chinese beads made from a core of black glass partially wrapped with gold foil and then overlaid with clear glass.

These Chinese lampwork beads featuring flower patterns are also finished with a layer of clear glass so that the flowers appear to float trapped beneath the surface.

For us the outer casing of glass adds an extra level of desirability to the bead. It is the final act that adds shine, weight, sensual smoothness and a certain hoorah to the skill of the beadmaker.

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Vintage: Richelieu Satinore Clasps

What we love most about vintage beads and components is the story that they have to tell, and whether that story is 'actual' and provided to us by the seller of the pieces, or is 'told' by the beads themselves as we handle them. It is this dialogue that we feel gives them an edge over modern mass-produced beads. This may well make you think 'phooey', but to us the very fact that something has been handled, loved, left in a drawer and forgotten, bears the scars of its manufacture, or demonstrates in miniature the skill of the craftsperson who made it, makes for a piece of jewellery with far greater intrinsic interest. Who doesn't wear the ring that their Great Grandmother got engaged with and wonder of her emotions upon that day?

Founded in 1911, Joseph H Meyer Bros. were an American costume jewellery manufacturer who produced a range under the brand name Richelieu. Richelieu jewellery was renowned for its fabulous simulated pearls - in actual fact beads and cabochons made from lucite and pearl essence with an effect that today is often referred to as cats eye or moonglow. Go to the Jewelry Patent Project for more information on this interesting manufacturing technique and the history of the patent taken out in the name of Maximilian C Meyer.

Above: An advertisement for Richelieu Satinore from 1948.

We have recently acquired some unused clasps from the Richelieu Satinore range. They are suitable for use with three-strand necklaces, and are of the type where a slide-in tongue is hidden behind a cabochon. All are marked with the Richelieu name on their reverse.

We have clasps in the citrus and white colourways (as per the ad shown). The metal fittings are all silver-plated and the clasps are strong and of good quality. They measure 19mm by 16mm including the side loops, and the height is 9.5mm. They are quite substantial in proportion and would complement chunkier beads.

   

We love that yellow!  Wouldn't it look great as a funky contrast colour to a necklace with royal blue or fuschia pink beads?

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