Description
Antique Millefiori Trade Beads
This beautiful Lot of Antique Millefiori Trade Beads has a variety of sizes and designs. Many of these beads show their age and have chips in them. The beads range in size from 9mm to 50mm.
One of a Kind!
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Venetian Millefiori Beads are one of several types of beads that we call Trade Beads. European traders often brought these beads to Africa, but they made their way to the Americas as well. Factories in Venice produced these beads beginning in the early 1800s. Artisans used canes of glass to create flowers and stripe designs. Then they molded layers of these designs around a core of solid colored glass. They then cut or broke these glass rods into beads. The result is a colorful mix of designs called Venetian Millefiori beads. Millefiori means “thousand flowers” in Italian.
Traders brought a large variety of glass beads to the Americas including Padre Beads, large round Hudson Bay trade beads, Venetian Millefiori Trade Beads, sand casted beads and others!
Read about the History of Trade Beads!
