lass is glass, right; what's the big deal where it comes from?

Actually, it makes quite a difference. The method used to make both the bead and the glass greatly influence the quality and strength of the bead. As one might imagine then, how a bead is made is very important; in fact, the secrets of glassmaking were closely guarded until the 17th century. Glass beads have been around for longer than you might imagine. Evidence of their making has been found dating the process back over 4,000 years, in Mesopotamia and Russia, with the four definitive movements of the craft centered in Egypt, Rome, the Middle East, and Venice. To this day, the craft of bead making differs from craftsman to craftsman, and all beads are not created equal. For example, while they may look similar to Czech glass beads, those made in China and India are notoriously brittle.

For more on the history of the glass bead, please see Lady Sveva Lucciola's page on the subject.

Now let's look at some of the better types of glass beads used in jewelrymaking.

Long ago, artisans used oil lamps to make beads of wound glass, which is why they're called lampwork beads. Nowadays, rods (also called canes) of glass are heated over a gas torch to temperatures of 1,700 degrees or more, Fahrenheit. The molten glass is wound and layered around a stainless steel rod called a mandrel and sculpted or shaped into the desired form. Once that has been achieved, the bead is placed in a kiln and slowly cooled. This process is called annealing, and it is key to the quality and strength of the finished product.

Artisan-crafted lampwork beads should not be confused with mass-produced lampwork beads such as those coming from Asia and the Middle East. Even Czech lampwork is generally mass-produced and has not been kiln annealed. When purchasing lampwork beads, it is wise to ask how the bead was cooled. Even some individual bead crafters will tell you their work as been annealed, so ask how. Many bead crafters cool their beads in fiber blankets, sand, or vermiculite. This process is not properly called annealing, and will not properly reduce stress to the glass. Only those beads cooled slowly in a kiln have actually been annealed. Lampwork prices vary widely and are not a good guideline for the quality of the product. If you are interested in purchasing lampwork beads or jewelry that has been made using them, it behooves you to do a little homework and ask a few questions of the seller.

For a detailed study of the history of flameworking and how a lampwork bead is made, please see The History of Lampworking, by Robert Mickelsen, available at the Online Glass Museum.

Some of the lampwork artists we like are featured below.
We make no promises as to the quality of their goods; that is up to you to decide.

Air and Earth Designs
Kandice Seeber's gorgeous creations

JenaGirlBeads
If that's what impatience gets a person, I should get back in touch with my inner brat.

Blissful Garden Beads
Heather Davis' beautiful and affordable lampwork beads in a variety of styles

Small Wonders
Mavis Smith's fabulous beads, figurines and tassel toppers

Trapped In a Bead
Artist Roberta Ogborn's whimsical beads, amphorae and creatures

SylvieBeads
Artist and lampwork instructor Sylvie Elise Lansdowne's beads, beadwork projects, and class schedules

Peraza
Marilyn Peraza-Arce is doing distinctively unique and different lampwork featuring focal beads and 3-dimentional sculpture beads. Her beads are of Moretti and Lauscha glass and sold mostly through auction.

Glassotica
Gorgeous ribbon beads and exquisite vessels, but in rather limited varieties/colors

Cauldron Creations
Melinda Melanson's small site links to her Ebay auctions and a tutorials page.
Don't let the size of her site fool you; this lady is creating delightful beads and incredibly intricate beaded art dolls.

Bohemia has been producing quality glass beads since 250 BC. Originally settled by the Celts, it became a part of the Holy Roman Empire in the 10th century and then was unhappily incorporated into the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the mid-18th century. Industry in the region flourished, and by the 18th century, Bohemian artisans had figured out a way to duplicate the rich red color of pyrope garnets mined there and were employing it in the manufacture of glass beads. By the 1860's, glass from Bohemia was outselling even renowned Venetian glass, the pinnacle of glass production at that time. During the years that followed, Bohemian industry suffered as Hitler annexed the region and joined Bohemia to her fellow country, Moravia. World War II followed, after which, Moravia, Bohemia and Slovakia formed the Republic of Czechoslovakia, and that then fell to Communist rule. With the end of communism in 1993, however, Slovakia split away, and industry in what is now called the Czech Republic regained its footing and has slowly returned to its former glory. The Bohemian region has resumed its manufacture of high quality glass and glass beads.

For more on Bohemia and the history of beadmaking there, please see the following pages:
The History of Czechoslovakia
The Beads of Bohemia

The glassmaking trade began in Venice in the 8th century. The city was the center of the glassmaking trade until 1291, when the industry was relocated to the island of Murano to isolate the craftsmen and enable trade masters to keep a close watch on them, in order to protect proprietary trade secrets. Subsequently, fine Murano glass and glass products became a major source of income for what was then known as the Republic of Venice, and Venetian glass was highly prized among the houses of Europe and remained so for several centuries.

Unfortunately for Venice - but probably happily for the virtually sequestered Venetian glassmakers, there is more than one way to make glass. As mentioned above, Bohemian and Moravian craftsmen were hard at work in their own little part of the world. Trading routes shifted, and by the 17th century, the glass trade in Venice began to decline. Venice found itself part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the early 18th century, at which point slightly more than half of all glass production there was spent on beads and smaller items easily carried aboard ships for overseas trade. History might have ended the craft there, but for secrets handed down within the old glassmaking families of Murano.

1859 ushered in the second wave of glass production in Murano when lawyer-cum-merchant Antonio Salviati had the idea to market glass tiles to repair the old mosaics of Venice. He chose to employ as one of his craftsmen master glassmaker Lorenzo Radi, who had labored to preserve the old glassmaking traditions and secrets. Through Salviati's hutzpah and Radi's creative force, the firm was able to recapture international attention and garner a large share of recognition for its artistic triumphs at world exhibitions, pushing Venetian glass to the forefront of glass artistry once again. By the late 1860's, Venice was able to wrench free of the grasp of Austria and join with the Kingdom of Italy. Glassmaking in Murano once again began to flourish, helped in no small part by the creative innovations of the artisans themselves. The Art Deco movement of the 1920's further pushed the art of Venetian glass to the apex of glass production, where it is still today.

For more on Venetian/Murano glass, please visit Murano Magic and Doge of Venice: Murano.

Beads by Mail
Czech & Venetian glass beads

ViaMurano
Venetian glass beads & more; also sells wholesale.

Furnace glass is what is traditionally thought of as blown glass. To make furnace glass beads, the glassblower uses a hollow tube, or blowpipe. He gathers glass at the end of it and then blows a small bubble of air into the blob of glass he has at the far end of his pipe. This bubble of air ultimately turns into the hole in the center of the bead. Most furnace glass beads have a clear center. Assuming the clear center, the glassblower then adds stripes of color to the bead by way of colored rods, or canes, of glass. More clear glass is somtimes layered on top, and then the entire thing is shaped and reheated. An iron rod called a pontil, or punty, is used to pull and twist the glass into a single long cane, which is then sliced into bead-sized pieces. The edges of these pieces are then fire-polished or tumbled to smooth, and a brightly-striped cylindrical, square, or triangularly-shaped bead results.

For more on furnace or blown glass, please see Glassmaking in Antiquity, by Susan Hampton; The History of Lampworking, by Robert Mickelsen; and Glass Bead Making

Glasscapes
A veritable cornucopeia of furnace glass candy created by Mingo & Asho, the site also features a great pictorial of how furnace glass beads are made.

Auntie's Beads
Large selection of furnace glass beads