Gablonz ornament
Material: Glass beads, glass, wire
Size: 21 cm high, 6,5 by 6,5 cm
Age: first half 20th century
Origin: Czech, Gablonz
Condition:
Very good used condition.
Describtion:
Exceptionally elaborate antique ornament crafted from numerous silvered glass beads and white glass rods. The multi-part construction is predominantly silver-toned and is beautifully accented by vibrant pink and blue-grey silvered glass beads. Several freely suspended bead pendants decorate the lower section, together with an elongated, faceted glass drop in vibrant pink. The intricate design, delicate wire connections and impressive length give this ornament a particularly magnificent appearance. Comparable examples of this size and elaborate construction have rarely survived. An exceptional and highly collectible original from the first half of the 20th century. 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.
