Gablonz ornament
Material: Glass beads, wire
Size: 5 cm high, 10 cm long
Age: around 1930
Origin: Czech, Gablonz
Condition:
Condition is very good
Description:
An exceptional antique Christmas ornament from Gablonz, dating to around 1930. This elaborate wire-mounted ornament combines silver-coloured glass beads, white glass tubes and a long, finely ribbed glass element in a delicate yellow-green shade. A pink embossed square panel framed by glass beads forms an attractive focal point. A golden-yellow glass bauble and a candle-like detail with a red tip complete the imaginative design. The varied glass shapes and preserved patina give this collectable piece its distinctive character. Age-related signs of wear enhance its authentic appearance. 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.
