Gablonz Star
Material: Glass beads, wire, glass tubes
Size: 13 cm high, Ø 8,5 cm, 3 cm deep
Age: around 1930
Origin: Czech, Gablonz
Condition:
Condition is very good
Description:
Antique Christmas ornament from Gablonz, dating to the 1930s, in the form of an elaborately crafted five-pointed star. Glass tubes form the delicate, three-dimensional structure. A red glass ball sits at the centre, surrounded by silver-coloured glass beads and small yellow flowers. An elongated suspension consisting of a glass tube, glass beads and fine wire connections completes the design. The preserved patina and signs of age lend this collectable ornament its authentic character. 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.
