White Hearts, Antique Fancy Beads with Floral Decoration, 9-11mm on 37-inch Strand

AFT-193

Regular price $495.00

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  • Long 37-inch strand of fancy antique Venetian White Hearts form the African Trade. 96 beads 9-11mm decorated with floral designs in blue and white. 
  • All beads in good condition, all decor complete, no cracks or chips
  • This strand is strung on a handsome black braided cord and is long enough to go over the head so can be worn as is, can become a collector piece or keep a designer happy for a good long time! The beads are small enough to make earrings that are not too heavy.
  • Named for their white core covered by a thin layer of translucent red glass, these beads were traded from Europe to every inhabited continent. Also known variously as Cornaline d'Aleppo for their resemblance to carnelian beads coming east from India through Syria and Turkey, or Hudson Bay Beads because early settlers and Mountain Men in that area traded them to Native Americans for pelts.
  • Developed in the 1600s, and produced mostly in Italy, but later also in Bohemia (now Czech Republic) and France, they had a lovely soft red pomegranate or light burgundy color until selenium replaced gold in the mix in 1890s. Selenium gave them a much brighter, harsher red. Selenium was abandoned in the 1930s because it was more expensive than gold at that time, but by then the global bead trade was winding down and the gold price keeps rising, so it's safe to say that essentially all the softer red beads are pre-1900.