White Hearts, Antique Round 11-15mm Beads, Sets of 13 Beads

AFE-254

Regular price $60.00

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  • Sets of 13 antique Venetian White Heart round beads 11-15mm diameter
  • Most beads in these sets are yellow hearts (older)
  • Most are in very good condition but each strand has one bead with a bad chip 
  • The quality overall is not quite as good as JSD-467 so the price is lower.
  • 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.