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Ov-Glas-Beads-art - 10/2/18

 

"An Overview of Glass Beads" by Master Mellitus of Rouncivale.

 

NOTE: See also the files: AS-Glass-Beads-art, beads-msg, amber-msg, Herbal-Beads-art, pearls-msg, Viking-Beads-art, glasswork-msg, Glass-Making-art, glass-bib.

 

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NOTICE -

 

This article was added to this set of files, called Stefan"s Florilegium, with the permission of the author.

 

These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author or translator.

 

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

 

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous

stefan at florilegium.org

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This version was published in The Clarion, November 2006.

 

An Overview of Glass Beads

by Master Mellitus of Rouncivale

 

(Originally published in the Autumn 1997 issue of TI; reprinted with corrections and additions)

 

Beads have fascinated mankind since before the beginning of written history. The earliest beads were fashioned from the bones of animals hunted for food. Primitive man felt that by wearing the bones of his prey he gained power over the animal and ensured the success of future hunts (Dubin, pg. 22).

 

Glass became prevalent centuries later among early civilizations. The Roman historian Pliny the Elder believed that Phoenician traders, camped on a beach near Alexandria, accidentally discovered glass when they could not find supports for their cookpots. The legend reports that the Phoenicians used lime blocks from their cargo for this purpose. When the lime (soda) softened and combined with the ash from the fire (alkaline) and sand (silica), it produced the first glass (Mariacher, pg. 7). Since glass has many jewel-like qualities, it made a natural medium for jewelry, usually in the form of glass beads (Kampfer, pg. 9).

 

Most every early civilization became fascinated with glass beads, and their production and trade spread. When Rome rose to power, the Romans, also enamored of glass beads, spread the beadmaking trade all over the Empire (Mariacher, pg. 18). Very little in the way of new technology or methods would appear until the 15th century, when the Venetians revived the glass arts during the Renaissance.

 

Europe during the Middle Ages seems to have been dependent on trade with other cultures for its supply of beads. This is probably due to the lack of high-quality and multi-hued glasses produced on the Continent (Burton, pg. 69). Yet the Norse, the Celts and the Byzantines retained the techniques lost to other SCA-period cultures. The Islamic world also became the center of glass beadmaking, probably due to its proximity to the high-quality Mediterranean sand used by the Ancients (Kampfer, pg. 1).

 

Terminology

 

When studying the creation and history of beads, certain terms are repeatedly used and should be understood. Most of these refer to the shape and decoration techniques of the beads.

 

Most of the forms referring to shape are descriptive and rather self-explanatory. Of course a spherical bead is round. Likewise, an elliptical bead is oval and a cylinder bead looks like a can. A bicone shape consists of two cones stuck together at their bases. Annular beads are disc shaped and perforated through the center point. The other main bead shape, tabular, refers to a flattened bead and is often described with two terms, such as a round tabular (circle shaped) or bicone tabular (a flattened bicone).

 

As the technology for glass beadwork advanced, many methods were developed to decorate the beads. The first and most common was the stringer. A stringer is a long, thin strand of glass that can be wrapped around the bead surface when it is softened. The stringer can then be pulled into a design by lightly dragging a sharp point over the bead surface. This technique is referred to as feathering. By melting a ball at the tip of the stringer and applying it to the bead surface, a dot or bump can be added to the bead. Often, a series of dots were applied, one on top of the other, to create a bead that resembled an eyeball. These eyed beads were thought to have talismanic properties and were worn by many pagan and Christian people.

 

The fusing together of several multicolored canes of glass arranged in a pattern and drawing the mass into a narrow cane that preserved the design created a millifiori cane. Segments of this cane could be sliced off and fused into a bead surface which would then be decorated by the pattern in the millifiori cane. Often, the entire bead surface consisted of fused millifiori slices, creating what is referred to as mosaic beads.

 

By fusing a cane of glass into another, clear cane, the Venetians created filigrana. Filigrana creates beads that appear striped or opaque at the center and clear around the edge.

 

What follows is a brief overview of the styles and techniques used by those cultures in the production of their beads. While the materials and processes are the same, all deriving from the Roman spread of glasswork, each culture used particular styles of decoration and shaping.

 

Byzantine Beads

 

The glass beadmakers of Constantinople represent the purest retention of ancient techniques and styles (Dubin, pg. 68). Beads were shaped in cylinders, bicones, spheres, ellipsoids, tabulars and annulars (Dubin, pg. 64). (See "Terminology" below for descriptions of each bead type.)

 

Several different decoration techniques also can be seen in Byzantine beads. Millifiori was among the most common of these techniques. Several slices of millifiori were applied to a single bead core, creating mosaic beads. Faces, flowers and geometric patterns were among the most popular millifiori patterns (Dubin, pg. 60).

 

Stringers were also wrapped around beads and used to draw geometric designs. Dots were applied in conjunction with the stringer-created designs or used individually. Sometimes dots were placed on top of dots to create eye beads. Melon and segmented beads were crafted by rolling the molten beads over a grooved marker, which indented the surface (Dubin, pg. 64).

 

The colors that seem to have been popular with the Byzantines were the ones that emulated precious stones, and many decorative stringers were feathered to emulate the natural whorls of stone. Some colors call to mind the glazed ceramic faience of ancient Egypt and the designs of ancient Rome (Dubin, pg. 64).

 

Glass beads were often used in conjunction with other types of beads during this period. Beads of bronze, gold, precious stone and pearl were among the most prized.

 

Most of the beads from Scandinavian areas are cylinders or barrel beads of dark hues decorated with geometric millifiori designs. The millifiori were arranged in patterns, creating checkerboard designs on the beads. Designs formed from stringers are also evident in this culture (Dubin, pg. 75).

 

Other beads popular in Scandinavian culture were amber, precious stones and bone.

 

Celtic Beads

 

After the fall of Rome, the Celts maintained only enough glass expertise to produce beads, bangles and other baubles. The Germanic peoples called glass "glesum," which means amber (Mariacher, pg. 10). It stands to reason, then, that the value placed upon glass by these peoples depended on its resemblance to precious stones.

 

Simple spheres and cylinders were the most common of the Celtic beads. Spirals and eye formations seem to be the most common decorations (Dubin, pg. 63). Bead producing centers at Whitby and York have uncovered large selections of beads through archaeological digs. The glass itself was probably imported from Europe as other vessels and reworked into beads (Dubin, pgs. 62, 67).

 

Cast metal, amber, precious stone (lapis and jet, particularly) and bone were other popular bead forms among the Celts.

 

Middle Eastern Beads

 

The region we now refer to as the Middle East rose to prominence as a glass bead and glass-producing center with the fall of Rome. Babylon, Sardis and Alexandria took over as the center of glass culture. They still had access to the fine sands of the Mediterranean and the soda native to Egypt (Kampfer, pg. 12).

 

The workmanship of these beads surpasses that of beads created by any other SCA- period cultures, except the late-period Venetians. Dots, feathered stringers and millifiori were the most popular decorations, applied to cores of contrasting color (Dubin, pg. 96). Enamels were used to decorate beads, as well (Kampfer, pg. 13).

 

Gold beads inlaid with semi-precious stones, filigree and precious stones were also popular (Dubin, pg. 96-97).

 

Many shapes seemed to be available, especially cylinder, bicone, spheroid, cube, cornerless cube, ellipsoid and segmented (Dubin, pg. 97).

 

The Islamic peoples placed great value on beads for their talismanic properties and their relation to religion. Men carried a strand of 39 or 99 beads called subha, with each bead representing one of the "Beautiful Names" of Allah. The Koran refers to the stars as "The Beads of the Sky" or "Heavenly Eyes." Thus, the eye bead, which had been popular in many cultures for its protective powers, was exceptionally popular among the Islamic people during SCA period.

 

Venetian Renaissance Beads

 

Not since the Phoenicians of antiquity had any culture produced as many glass beads as the Venetians of the 14th through 18th centuries. The beads of this period are often called trade beads, because they were used primarily for trade in the New World and the colonies in Africa (Dubin, pg. 101).

 

The Venetians created beads of blown glass, wound glass and drawn glass (like the famous chevron beads). Venetian glassblowers developed filigrana (a colored cane of glass suspended in a transparent sheath) and used it to craft not only beads, but vessels called reticello which looked as though they were composed of a spider web suspended in glass (Mariacher, pg. 115).

 

Stringers, latticing, feathering, dots and millifiori were used to create fantastic designs in virtually unlimited colors and shapes (Dubin, pg. 102).

 

The Venetians also were the first to write down their techniques and document the business of their craft. Several period sources are available, thanks to the businessmen of the Venetian glass guilds. These are included in the bibliography.

 

Summary

 

Glass beads have been with mankind throughout most of history, and they are experiencing a revival in their use. They reflect the ups and downs of history and commerce between different parts of the world. They have always reflected the styles of dress and the mentality of those who wear and produce them. They probably always will.

 

Bibliography

 

Burton, John. Glass: Philosophy and Method. (Philadelphia, PA: Chilton Book Company, 1967).

 

Dubin, Lois Sherr. The History of Beads from 30,000 BC to Present. (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987).

 

Kampfer, Fritz, and Klaus Beyer. Glass: A World History. (London: Studio Vista Ltd., 1966).

 

Mariacher, Giovanni. Glass from Antiquity to Renaissance. (Middlesex, England: Haxlin Publishing Group, 1966).

 

Period Sources:

 

Mariegola dei vetrai: Explains the business of glass guilds from creation of the glass to the selling of glass vessels, circa 1441.

 

De La Pirotechnia (Concerning Pyrotechnics): published in 1540, it is the first book to describe the equipment and processes of sixteenth-century mining, smelting, and metalworking. It is available translated as The Pirotechnia of Vannoccio Biringuccio: The Classic Sixteenth-Century Treatise on Metals and Metallurgy by Vannoccio Biringuccio, translated by Martha Teach Gnudi.

 

Ars Vitaria (by Johann Kurchel): Explains glassworking techniques of the 17th century, including lampwork.

 

Spessart Ordnung: 1406 guide to the organization of a rural glassworking guild in the Rhineland.

 

Hesse Bundesbrief: Similar to the Ordnung, from 1537 and 1559.

 

Related Websites:

 

The Corning Museum of Glass: http://www.cmog.org/index.asp?pageId=426

 

Site includes "A Brief History of Islamic Glassmaking" and "Glassmaking in the Levant."

 

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Copyright 1997, 2006 by Tim Mercer. <email address>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited.  Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the author is notified of the publication and if possible receives a copy.

 

If this article is reprinted in a publication, please place a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

 

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Formatting copyright © Mark S. Harris (THLord Stefan li Rous).
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Comments to the Editor: stefan at florilegium.org