Gablonz beaded ornament
Material: Glass beads, wire
Size: 13,5 cm high, 5 cm wide
Age: um 1920
Origin: Gablonz, Czech
Condition:
Good condition with normal signs of age.
Description:
Gablonz Christmas ornament dating to around 1920, handcrafted from glass beads and glass tubes threaded onto wire. White glass tubes form a delicate geometric framework around a large silvered glass bauble with a yellow band running around its centre. Silver-coloured glass beads accentuate the joints and encircle the central bauble like a wreath. A freely suspended bead pendant completes the lower section. The combination of clean lines, soft white tones and silvery lustre gives this ornament its distinctive charm. A collectable piece with authentic age-related signs of wear and preserved patina. Guaranteed antique – not a reproduction.
History of the production of Gablonz glass bead jewelry
The production of Gablonz glass bead jewelry has a long tradition. The historiography began around 1550 in Gablonz / Sudetenland (today's Czech Republic) and developed in connection with the jewelry and glass industry. At that time, the first glassworks were built and from these, glass grinding shops. In the countless Gablonz family businesses, the beads were blown up from glass tubes in front of an oil lamp with bellows reinforcement, or later with a type of Bunsen burner. This is how the "freehand beads" were blown up by hand without any shaping aids. Later, the glass tubes were blown up into "shaped beads", again in front of the "lamp", using a bead forming machine developed in this region. Father and grandfather were usually responsible for blowing up the beads. Mother and grandmother's busy hands then strung this bead material on wire in certain formations.
