beads, beads, beads

We had a great outing yesterday, a bead sale at a friend's. Not just any bead sale, John's father spent the last 30 years of his life buying, selling and trading rare and interesting beads.

These were the oldest, from Persia, ( now Iran). Some of these are from the 800 AD. These were not for sale.

These were the crystal beads, too bad I could not get how they sparkled on my camera.

I thought this necklace especially lovely. Hand carved glass beads and the small red beds with the blue lapis was a great combination - and very patriotic in this election time!

These are very old venetian beads. John pointed, notice the bead on the top, it must have been worn on a string many, many years to have worn away like that, he said. These are called Chevrons.

They were arranged by color and kind. These are the black and white.

This was my take home favorite from the sale, a Euro Padre stand of beads. I loved the color.

These beads are from the middle to late 1800's. They are Chinese glass beads that the Padres (Father's of the church) brought to the new world to trade with the Indians. See even then people were buying Chinese goods!

I bought a few of these too. These are the Chevrons. The old ones are from Venice, Italy and quite expensive. Mine are copies from - where else - China.

From Wikipedia -

Chevron beads are special glass beads, the first specimens of this type were created by glass bead makers in Venice and Murano, Italy, towards the end of the 15th century. They may also be referred to as Rosetta, or star beads. The term rosetta first appeared in the inventory of the Barovier Glass works in Murano, in 1496, in context with beads as well as with other glass objects.
Venetian chevron beads are drawn beads, made from glass canes which are created in specifically constructed star moulds. The first chevron beads were made towards the end of the 15th century, consisting of 7 layers of alternating colours. They usually have 6 facets. Unlike their later counterparts they were not always made with the standard 12-point star mould. By the beginning of the 20th century, 4 and 6-layer chevron beads appear on various sample cards. According to records kept at the Societa Veneziana Conterie of Murano, they stopped making chevron canes during the 1950s. Chevron beads are still being made in Venice today, albeit in very small quantities only.

This one is an old Venetian Chevron Bead.

These are first Chevron copies made in India.

These are the Chevron beads made in China.

From the end you can see that the Chinese Chevron is not nearly as perfect as the Venetian. But I enjoy them just the same.

These are just simply awesome beads.

My first real foray into the world of beads. Beads have been found that are over 80,000 years old. People have been into beads for a very long time, what a great thread of humanity.