Gablonz ornament
Material: Glass beads, glass, wire
Size: 13 cm high, 9 cm long, 4 cm wide
Age: first half 20th century
Origin: Czech, Gablonz
Condition:
Very good used condition.
Describtion:
Elaborate Gablonz Ornament – First Half of the 20th Century
Antique Christmas ornament crafted from glass beads and glass tubes, intricately assembled on wire. Numerous silvered beads, white glass tubes, and red and pale green accents form a delicate, three-dimensional composition. A large, elongated glass bead is incorporated into the centre. Freely suspended glass bead pendants add a particularly decorative finishing touch. Very beautiful condition with age-related patina. No visible damage. Please refer to the photographs for details and condition. 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.
