Judy Ellis's Creating with Handmade Venetian Glass Beads

Creating with Handmade Venetian Glass Beads

by Judy Ellis

Instructions

What is Venetian Glass?

Venetian glass is a type of glass object made in Venice, Italy, primarily on the island of Murano. It is world-renowned for being colorful, elaborate, and skillfully made.

The Art of Glass making and Venetian Glass Beads:

The process of making Murano glass is rather complex. As the glass passes from a liquid to a solid state, there is an interval when the glass is soft before it hardens completely. This is when the glass-master can shape the material.

Venetian artisans use special tools including: borselle (tongs to hand-form the red-hot glass); canna da soffio (a blowing pipe); pontello (an iron rod that helps with adding the finishing touches); scagno (a work bench); and tagianti (glass-cutting clippers).

Beads have been made of glass for over 5,000 years. The discovery of fire was the essential step in glass bead making. The history of bead making in Venice goes back to the days of Marco Polo when he returned from his travels with the beads of Asia. Local artisans took to their glass making skills to reproduce in glass the precious stones of Marco Polo.

Judy Ellis's Creating with Handmade Venetian Glass Beads - , General Education, Design, Venetial class

Lampwork or Wound Beads or Perle a Lume Venetian Beads

Often called wound beads because the melting glass is wound over a mandrel. Originally the Venetian beads were wound over a ferrous mandrel which had been covered with a mixture of silica and clay which gave the bead some room for contraction when it cooled and helped remove the bead from the mandrel. This material was originally known as “fango” meaning mud and legend is that it was, indeed, the mud from the lagoon.

Our Handmade Venetian Glass Beads:

Venetian Glass Beads are among the most recognized and collected beads in the world. Add tremendous value to your handmade work by using quality Italian made beads to any piece of your wire jewelry.

Get your Handmade Venetian Glass Beads and create your own masterpiece today!