Butterfly
Material: Glass beads, wire
Size: 7,5 cm wide, 7,5 cm long
Age: around 1930
Origin: Czech, Gablonz
Condition:
Condition is very good
Description:
Antique Christmas ornament from Gablonz in the shape of a butterfly, dating to the 1930s. The delicate wings are formed from glass beads threaded onto wire and decorated with orange silvered glass balls alongside white and yellow beads. An elongated silvered glass body, a green head and orange beaded antennae complete the colourful design. Golden glass tubes connect the body to the suspension. A collectible example of Gablonz glass bead craftsmanship with a charming age-related 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.
