Description

Antique Venetian floral beads.
Also referred to as fancy, fiorà or fiorate because of their colours and elegant patterns on a dark matrix.
These lamp work and trail decoration glass trade beads, date from the mid 1800s to early 1900s.
Overall condition is good to very good with minor pitting, typical of old beads.
Collected in Mali.

Height: 10-18mm
Diameter: 10-15mm
Strand length: 30 cm (12″)
30 beads

About VENETIAN TRADE BEADS
Antique Venetian trade beads are a rich and fascinating part of history.
The city of Murano produced glass beads, as early as the 1400s and up until the early 1900s. These small works of art were in fact, used as currency for centuries.
Antique Venetian trade beads, prized for their colours and complex patterns, as well as for the skills of Murano glass-makers.
“Fiorà or Fiorate” comes from the Italian for the word “floral or flower like”. These Venetian beads are distinguishable for the surface decoration that resembles flowers or even bouquets of flowers.
These very special lamp-work technique beads belong to the broader family of Venetian beads, produced in Murano Italy.
Venetian “Fiorà” often called “fancy beads” were popular from the mid 1800s onwards and are still appreciated today by bead collectors