Bead and Wire Wrap History

Shields

2012-01-31T09:13:00.000-08:00

Shields were used for protection in battle since ancient times by the various nations of that time. Shields were used to deflect arrows and hand held weapons. The first primitive shields were made of hides and wood. Later, metal was added. Shields continued in use through the Middle Ages, but later became less effective against more advanced weapons. They are still used by police in riot situations to deflect rocks and other thrown objects.
Shields were decorated to represent the nation and rank of the soldier even in ancient times, but decoration became particularly important in Medieval Europe to denote clans and social status.
It is not unusual to see shield designs worn as jewelry just as adornment as well as telling something about the person. The shield design shown here was made by the Beadshaper as the focal pendant of a necklace. It was made for love, not war.

Parvati

2012-01-25T13:38:00.000-08:00

Parvati, in Hindu mythology, is the goddess of love. According to the story, she fell in love with Shiva, the warrior god who was living in the mountains as an ascetic. So she also went to the mountains to live the ascetic life in order to win his attention. Eventually she caught his attention, and he was attracted by her great beauty. They left the ascetic life and became married. Because of Parvati, Shiva mellowed and became the god of the arts as well as the warrior god.
The bead in the picture is one of the Beadshaper's Fashion Fish beads named for the beautiful Parvati. This Parvati can be found on Beadshaper web site at Fashion Fish Beads

Bling

2012-01-17T23:04:00.000-08:00

The word bling can be used to describe bright, shiny, or flashy jewelry. The term began with rappers, probably beginning in the 1960s, although more so in the 1980s. Some believe it originated with the Ultrabrite toothpaste commercial which portrayed brightness of brushed teeeth with a visible flash and a bling sound. Other historians trace it back to the admiration for bright jewelry in gold producing areas of West Africa. Today it is still used to describe exciting attractive jewelry.
For many colorful bling beads and jewlery, see Beadshaper

Helen of Troy

2012-01-13T23:19:00.000-08:00

Helen of Troy was a mythological beautiful woman whose beauty and desirability resulted in the Trojan War. According to the story, Helen had numerous suitors but married Menelaus, the Greek king of Sparta. Paris, a Trojan Prince, desired Helen and abducted her, taking her to Troy. The story varies as to whether Helen went willingly. Menelaus gathered up a large number of Greek warriors, putting together a fleet which sailed to Troy in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) resulting in a war. The result of the war was that the Greeks won and Helen was brought back to Sparta.
This picture is of a Beadshaper Fish Bead named for Helen of Troy

Astarte

2012-01-08T21:17:00.000-08:00

Astarte was the mythologic goddess of love and beauty in various Semitic cultures of the eastern Mediterranean area thousands of years ago. She is particularly associated with the ancient city of Byblos in Phoenicia (now Lebanon). When the concept of Astarte was carried westward, she became the precursor of the Greek goddess Aphrodite and later the Roman goddess Venus.
The picture here is of Astarte Fashion Fish bead named for the goddess. This bead and other Fashion fish beads can be found at Beadshaper Fashion Fish

Venus

2012-01-03T09:32:00.000-08:00

Venus in Roman mythology is the goddess of love and beauty. She is the Roman equivalent of the earlier Greek goddess, Aphrodite. According to Roman mythology, she is the daughter of Jupiter, the king of the gods, and the ancestor of Romulus, the founder of Rome. As the story goes, she was married to Vulcan, the god of craftsmanship who didn't pay enough attention to her because he was too busy working, so she had an affair with Mars, the god of war. It looked like those ancient Romans had the same frailties we see in some people today and attributed those same frailties to their gods and goddesses.
Venus has been the subject of many works of art, most notably the painting "The Birth of Venus" by Boticelli (1445-1510). The most famous sculpture bearing her name is the Venus de Milo. However that statue was actually made by an ancient Greek artist depicting Aphrodite, but the later Roman name has remained the more popular one.
The picture in this article is a fish bead made by the beadshaper and named Venus Fashion Fish . You can see more of the Beadshaper's work at Beadshaper .

Repousse

2012-01-02T09:07:00.000-08:00

Repousse is a technique in which a piece of metal in a sheet form is hammered from behind to raise up a design in the front. Gold and silver are generally used in making jewelry and other small objects, but copper and other metals have been used for making large structures. An example of a large structure made using repousse is the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. The word repousse comes from French and means to push. Although the name is French, the process dates back to ancient times and has been found in the art of various diverse cultures. The earliest examples were made in the Middle East about 5000 years ago. It has been found among the objects in ancient Egyptian tombs and was used in designing the armour of ancient Greek soldiers. It has been used by artists in India and the Far East for centuries in making jewelry and bowls. Archaeologists have found examples of repousse in the mounds of the Mound Dwellers who preceded the Indians in the Midwestern USA.
The pendant in this picture is the focal point of a necklace made by the Beadshaper. More detail about the necklace can be seen at Beadshaper Repousse .
The Beadshaper teaches classes in Repousee. See Beadshaper Classes for details.

Aphrodite

2011-12-28T08:27:00.000-08:00

Aphrodite is the beautiful goddess of love, desire, and pleasure in ancient Greek mythology. In the various stories about her, she has various gods as lovers. She is often depicted as wearing gold jewelry. The bead crochet necklace with gold strands depicted here is named for Aphrodite and can be seen along with other bead crochet necklaces at Beadshaper Crochet

Amazons in Greek Mythology

2011-12-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

The Amazons of Greek Mythology were a kingdom ruled by women in which the women were the warriors. The mythology was told in various ways. In one version, the men stayed home and did the household chores. In another version all the male children were killed. In that version, the women kept male slaves captured in battle with whom they would have relations periodically in order to reproduce new female warriors. Their kingdom was supposed to have been located in Asia Minor or somewhere around the Black Sea. It is not known if any part of their story was true or whether they were completely mythological.
The bracelet pictured here was recently created by the Beadshaper and named Amorous Amazon

Guy de Maupassant

2011-12-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

Guy de Mauassant was a French author who lived from 1850 to 1893. His parents separated when he was young, and he was very much influenced by his mother with whom he lived after the separation. He knew many of the great French literary people of his time. He wrote novels but is best known for his short stories. "The Necklace" is one of his best known short stories, which is why I named this necklace after him. Although the necklace in the story is an imitation diamond necklace, the one pictured here has pearls, onyx, and moonstones but no diamonds (real or imitation). You can see more of this necklace and others at Necklaces and Bead Crochet . The poem can be found at Poem .

Glass in Venice

2011-12-06T16:29:00.000-08:00

During the early Middle Ages, there were glass makers in the Venetian area who made glass for church windows. Later as Venice grew as a major port for trade, the Venetian glass makers were influenced by the art of the East, particularly Islamic art. By the 13th Century, glass making had reached such importance in the Venetian economy that the Venetian government began taking measures to protect their glass industry and its secret methods for making the uniquely beautiful Venetian glass. The glass production was concentrated on the island of Murano. Foreign glass makers were not allowed in, and Venetian glass makers were not allowed to emigrate. However, by the 17th Century, some of the secret methods gradually filtered out to Venice's competitors in the outside world. The glass artists of Venice were then forced to become innovative in their art in order to stay a step ahead of their competitiors. After the fall of the Venetian Republic at the end of the 18th Century, most of the innovation ended for a period of time. Venice continued to produce glass, particularly glass beads, in the same style that had been developed earlier. However, innovation in Venetian glass making was revived in the 19th Century along with the unification of Italy. Venice continues to be the most famous glass making city in the world even today.
The glass bead pictured here was made by the Beadshaper in California, but the glass she uses is imported from Italy. You can see more of her glass beads at Beadshaper

History of Wine Stoppers

2011-12-02T22:38:00.000-08:00

It has been known since ancient times that wine that is stored over time has to be protected from ths air to prevent spoilage by oxygenation. The ancient Egyptians used clay to seal their wine bottles. The ancient Greeks and later Romans stored wine in vase shaped vessels called amphora. We don't have examples of the stoppers which were used to seal them because the stoppers were made of perishable materials. A French monk named Dom Perignon started the widespread use of cork as a stopper for wine bottles in 1698 which is still commonly used today.
Bottles made of various materials known as decanters have been used for serving wine since ancient times. The ancient Romans began making decanters out of glass, and the Venetians reintroduced the concept of making decanters of glass during the Renaissance. The English in the 1700s began using glass stoppers. Once the cork is removed from a bottle it is difficult to put it back in. Today, wine stoppers used after the cork is removed are often made of glass or metal. Elaborate wine stoppers are often decorated with glass beads or other adornments.
The beaded wine stopper pictured above can be found at Beaded Wine Stoppers

Laurium Silver Mines

2011-11-30T18:16:00.000-08:00

The Athenian Greeks discovered a large vein of silver in a hilly area called Laurium near Athens around 500 B.C. The mining of this silver and making it into coins and other objects made Athens wealthy. At its peak Laurium consisted of more than 300 mines. There were thousands of miners, all of them slaves. The wealth produced by the silver allowed Athens to develop a wealthy upper class in which there were people who had the time to study, think, write, and develop many of the ideas which contributed to the origins of philosophy, art, and science which are still important today.
The picture you see here is a modern silver bracelet (not from Laurium). You can see more silver jewelry and other adornments at Beadshaper

Necklaces in Ancient Egypt

2011-11-27T22:33:00.000-08:00

Necklaces in ancient Egypt were worn by both women and men. In addition to being worn for beauty, necklaces displayed wealth and power. The necklace worn by the Pharaoh was often in the form of a collar and made of gold. No one else would wear a necklace as elaborate as that of the Pharaoh.The Pharaoh would bestow on important noblemen the honor of wearing elaborate necklaces, although not as elaborate as that of the Pharaoh himself. Later, during the period when Christianity became the predominant religion of Egypt for a time the wearing of necklaces went out of style.
You can see the modern necklace pictured here, inspired by the necklaces of ancient Egypt,as well as other exotic necklaces at Beadshaper Necklaces and Beadshaper Stones

History of French Perfume

2011-11-12T22:45:00.000-08:00

Although the manufacture of perfumes goes back to ancient times, perfume making developed in France beginning in the late Middle Ages when flowers were cultivated for extraction of their fragrant oils. Later, the area around the town of Grasse in southern France became known as a source of flowers for perfumes. Ultimately, France developed into the center of perfumery in Europe and the rest of the world. Perfumes were particularly popular in Europe because during those early times bathing was done infrequently. Perfumes became particularly prominent in France during the reign of Louis XV in the 1700s. His court was known as the perfumed court because of the abundance of perfume applied to people, clothing, and other articles. France remains known as the center of perfumery even today.
The glass bead flowers seen at Beadshaper Fashion Flowers don't have fragrance and can't be made into perfume, but they can be appreciated for their visual beauty.

The Copper Age

2011-11-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

The Copper Age occurred from around 5000 BC to around 3000 BC and was the bridge from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. Excavations indicate that it must have begun in Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, and the Middle East. It was significant in that it was the beginning of smelting metal ore to make metal tools. Before then, tools were made by chiseling stones into the desired shape. Civilizations that possessed the ability to make tools and weapons out of metal were able to supercede those that relied only on stone, thus creating city states and kingdoms. The copper age ended with discovery of making bronze by alloying copper with other metals, mainly tin, to make a harder metal, more suitable for tools and weapons. Copper, being softer and more pliable, remains more suitable for jewelry, wire, and decorative purposes. Examples of copper jewelry can be seen at Beadshaper

History of Bronze

2011-10-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

The Bronze Age was the period from about 4000 BC to 1200 BC, coming after the Stone Age and before the Iron Age. By the end of the Stone Age, ancient people had developed the ability to mine copper and other metals. Copper itself is soft and easily bent and dented. It is good for wire because of its flexibility. At the beginning of the Bronze Age, people found that by alloying copper with other metals, they could produce one that was stronger than copper alone. That metal is known as bronze. The most common metal combined with copper to make bronze is zinc. Bronze was used to make to make tools, vessels, jewelry, and other items. Later with the onset of the Iron Age, iron was found to be stronger for the more heavy duty tools. However, bronze remained preferred for more artistic endeavors like jewelry and statues. You can see bronze jewelry as well as other jewelry made from other metals at Beadshaper

Beads as Money

2011-10-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

The earliest trade was barter. Shells became a medium of exchange in China more than 3000 years ago. Beads have been popular for adornment and therefore as a medium of exchange in Africa and among the native people of the Americas for an unknown number of centuries. The Chumash Indians on the Channel Islands off the coast of California made shell beads that were used for trade among the Indians of the American West Coast and even what is now the Inland Southwestern United States. Beads were used as currency by the early European explorers in trading with the American Indians. Beads were believed to have been among the items used in the purchase of the Island of Manhattan by Dutch settlers. Glass beads manufactured in Europe were used as currency in the African slave trade.
You can purchase beads for adornment or any purpose at Beadshaper .

Tourmaline

2011-10-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

Tourmaline is a multi-colored stone which has been known in various parts of the world for at least 2000 years. The name tourmaline comes from the Sinhalese word turmali which was the name given to stones from the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Dutch traders re-discovered tourmaline in the early 1700s on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea, and the stone has been popular in the Western world since then.
The small greenish stones in the bead crochet necklace pictured here are tourmaline. Tourmaline is one of the stones which the Beadshaper uses in making her Bead Crochet jewelry.

Sodalite History

2011-09-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

Sodalite is typically a deep blue stone with streaks of other colors. Deposits of sodalite were first discovered in Greenland in 1811. Huge deposits of sodalite were found in Canada in 1891, and the stone was presented at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The Princess of Wales became aware of sodalite on a trip to Canada in 1901. She liked it so much that she had a large amount shipped to England to be used in the interior design of Marlborough House.This greatly popularized soda lite in England. Some people then referred to the stone as princess blue stone, and the Canadian mine that supplied the sodalite to the princess became known as the Princess Sodalite Mine.
The Beadshaper has presented a sodalite pendant necklace at Blue Night

Agate

2011-09-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

Agate is a stone consisting of lines of quartz and chalcedony. It is found all over the world in many varieties with many different colors. It was first used by prehistoric people about 20,000 years ago. It was known to the ancient Egyptians. The name agate was given to the stone by the ancient Greeks because it was found near the Achates River in Sicily.
Today it is used to make beautiful jewelry.
You can see an example of an agate necklace at Agatea by Beadshaper

Lavender

2011-09-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

Lavender color refers to various shades of pale purple inspired by the color of the lavender flower. The first references to the use of lavender as a perfume and as an herb go back to ancient times. The ancient Egyptians used it in preparing mummies. The Romans used it in their baths and in cooking food. The ancient Greeks called it naardus after the Syrian city of Naardus which they considered to be its origin. The cultivation and use of lavender spread from Greece to France and from there throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. During Renaissance times, it was believed to ward off infection. During the Great Plague in London in the 1600s, people wore lavender around their wrists because they believed it would prevent the infection. It was also believed to bring romance in Renaissance times. Girls would put it in their pillows hoping it would bring a husband. Newlyweds would put it under their beds thinking it would be an aphrodesiac. In the 19th Century, it was associated with lack of maleness in men and became the color of homosexualism in middle 20th Century. Aside from its historical, emotional, and religious aspects, lavender remains a beatiful color today and often is incorporated into glass beads and jewelry.
You can find many shades of lavender glass beads as well as other colors at Beadshaper

History of Perfume

2011-08-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

The use of fragrant aromas goes back thousands of years. They were first used in religious practices in the form of burning incense that produced a pleasant scent. Incense burning began in Messopotamia about 4000 years ago. In fact, the word perfume comes from the Latin phrase "per fume" (through smoke). The Egyptians were important in the development of ancient perfumes and invented the idea of perfume bottles. The Egyptian ideas of perfume later spread to other ancient civilizations. Perfumes were important in the baths of ancient Rome. Avicenna, an Arab chemist in medieval times developed the process of extracting perfumes from flowers. The use of perfumes spread to Europe, even before the coming of the Renaissance. Medieval and Renaissance rulers in Europe granted charters to perfumers. Various methods of extracting and preparing perfumes commercially were developed in Europe with the beginning of modern science in the 18th and 19th centuries. The first synthetic chemical to be used as a perfume was developed by Fougère Royale, Houbigant in France in 1882. The chemical perfume manufacturers that we know today mostly came into existence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Art, Functional and Abstract

2011-08-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

Most human endeavors, including art, serve some function. The prehistoric pictograms found on rocks and caves show people and animals and tell a story. Medieval European paintings showed people and events concerning religion. In the periods following the Middle Ages portraits of people who could afford to commission them were painted as well as pictures of secular as well as religious scenes. The invention of the camera took away the function of the painting as a means of visiually recording people and events. But it also freed the artists from strict adherance to realism. First came the Impressionists whose drawings still contained realism but without strict adherance to color and form. Later, in the 20th Century, abstract art came on the scene, where a drawing was appreciated for its beauty without depicting anything or not looking to the casual eye like what it was depicting. Then the camera itself became art with more realism.
Jewelry, dishes, vessels, and other objects with a function other than art itself have been adorned with abstract art throughout the centuries going back to prehistoric times as well as with pictures of people, animals, and plants. Architecture serves the function of providing shelter but also can be art. Images have been carved into the walls of some buildings while others display their beauty abstractly.
Art must have some kind of beauty to be art. Beauty can be pretty or it can at times be a harsh beauty, but it should evoke an emotion of some kind other than its pure function.
See Beadshaper for examples of handcrafted glass beads and jewelry art that is functional and can be abstract or pictorial.

History of Arts and Culture in Evanston, Illinois

2011-08-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

The overwhelming source of arts and culture in Evanston is Northwestern University. Northwestern began in with a meeting of the founders over a hardware store in Chicago in 1850. They wanted to establish a university in an area that was barely beyind the pioneering stage. They purchased land north of the city in what is now Evanston and opened the university in 1851. Evanston is named after one of those founders, John Evans.
The Block Museum of Art of Northwestern University began with a donation to the university by the Block family in 1980. The museum was named for the Blocks in 1998.
Other than Northwestern University, the Evanston Arts Center was opened in 1929 by a group of civic leaders to further the cultural life of Evanston. It began in the basement of the public library, moved to an abandoned barber shop, and finally to its present location.
Another art museum in Evanston is the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian which was founded in 1997 to focus on the culture and history of Native Americans.
There are also a number of art and craft shops in Evanston.

The Beadshaper will be presenting her handcrafted lampwork glass beads (including fashion fish and fashion flower beads) and handcrafted viking knit and bead crotchet jewelry at Ayla's Originals, at 1511 Sherman Ave in Evanston on Saturday, August 6 and Sunday, August 7.

History of Flowers in Fashion

2011-06-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

Adornment with flowers goes back to ancient times. The ancient Egyptians depicted some of their gods as wearing plumed headdresses. The ancient Greeks and Romans wore flowers in their hair as individual flowers and in garlands, especially at weddings. The art of wearing flowers in the hair also is found in the cultures of India and Polynesia. Artifical flowers go back to ancient times and were mentioned in the Bible in the chapter concerning King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Flowers were used to decorate churches in the Middle Ages in Europe, natural flowers in the summer, artificial flowers made by nuns in the winter. Flower making for hats and clothing began as a commercial venture in France in the 18th Century and then spread to Germany.
Millefiore is a technique of applying small thin flowers to glass beads, pendants, and other glass objects. This technique dates back to ancient Greece, Rome, and Phoenicia. It was perfected by the Venetians in their beadmaking beginning in the Middle Ages. The word millefiore means thousands of flowers.
Harvard's Botanical Museum in the 19th Century commissioned Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka in Germany to make glass plants and flowers for the purpose of teaching botany. This collection was made during the period of 1887 to 1939. It remains today as a classic collection of glass plant models and is known for its exactness. In recent times the making of glass beads in the shape of flowers has become very much in syle. you can see examples at Fashion Flowers by the Beadshaper.

History of Crochet and Bead Crochet

2011-06-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

The word crochet comes from the French word for hook. Crochet is a method of weaving strands of material into patterns. It differs from needlework in that crochet uses one hook and needlework uses 2 needles. The earliest crochet-like work probably goes back to ancient times when a finger was used instead of a hook. Crochet was definitely known to have been done in the Renaissance times and became especially popular in the 1800s continuing to present times. Classical crochet uses yarn or similar fabric strands.
Crafters began crocheting beads onto bags and clothing in the 1800s using yarn and other classical crochet fabrics. Recently jewelry artists have begun using silver and other precious metals to crochet beads into necklaces, bracelets, and other jewelry. Examples of bead crochet jewelry can be found at Beadshaper .
The Beadshaper teaches classes in making Bead Crochet jewelry. See Beadshaper Jewelry Classes for details.

Beauty in Ancient Egypt

2011-05-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

We can have a peek at what ancient Egyptian men considered beautiful in ancient Egyptian women in a poem written by an anonymous ancient Egyptian poet. It sounds from the poem that ideas of beauty haven't changed that much over the last 3,000 years. He describes a narrow waist and big hips, and a long narrow neck. While we value a tan, in those days light colored skin was more valued, probably because poor people worked outdoors in the sun and rich people stayed indoors. You can read more about what men considered sexy in ancient Egypt in the poem, She is One Girl, at Bead and Wire Wrap Poetry

Vikings in Russia

2011-05-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

Did you know that the name Russian comes from Scandinavia. During the Middle Ages, the Viking influence extended eastward into what is now the Ukraine. A Viking tribe called the Russ took advantage of disagreement between various local Slavic tribes and established a Kingdom centered around Kiev which ultimately grew into the Russian Empire.
So how is this related to jewelry? Well, Rose, the Beadshaper, is offering classes in making Viking Knit jewelry at the San Francisco Bead and Design Show this Saturday and Sunday, May 7 and 8, 2011, in the Hyatt Hotel, 1333 Old Bayshore Highway, Burlingame, CA 94010. For more information or to sign up, you can contact Rose at Guestbook

History of the Color White

2011-04-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

The color white is the complete presence of the color spectrum. It combines all the colors except black which is the absence of color. A white object appears white because it reflects all the light back to the eye (unlike a black object which absorbs all the light).
Various cultures today and in the past have assigned various meanings to the color white. A white flag represents peace and surrender. In ancient Egypt, white was a color of authority. In many cultures white has represented holiness and purity. Hindu holy people wear white. White was the color of the gods of ancient Persia. Brides wear white in western cultures to denote virginity. In the Jewish religion, white is worn on the High Holy days to denote the sanctity of those days. White has denoted direction in some cultures, to the ancient Celtic people it represented south, to the Chinese west, and to some of the native Americans east.
You can see handcrafted lampwork white glass beads combined with various colors at Beadshaper

History of the Color Black

2011-04-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

The color black is the absence of light. It is the color of the night. A black objects absorbs all the light it receives and reflects none of it back to the eye of the beholder. Black has been a popular color in the design of varous objects going back to prehistoric times. Black ceramic objects have been found that were estimated to have been made as long as 25,000 years ago. To the ancient Egyptions, black was the color of the silt that came from the Nile River annually which enabled them to grow food there and was the reason that Egyptian civilization grew in that location. Therefore the Egyptians associated black with fertility and rebirth. There was a type of pottery made in ancient Greece, particularly between the 7th and 5th Centuries B.C., in which the figures were painted black and set against a background of a lighter color. Black diamonds are a rare form of the gem which have been worn as long ago as the Middle Ages in Europe. Black glass was first produced in England in the 1600s and is often due to iron oxide impurities. Black clothing in western civilization has often been worn during periods of periods of mourning, as a sign of conservatism, or as a sign of importance and power. It was a popular color for clothing among the Puritans. The ceremonial clothing worn by Christian and Jewish clergy is often black. Tuxedos worn at weddings and other formal affairs are often black. It was worn by Queen Victoria of England during the many years of her life after Prince Albert died, and therefore was popular color in Victorian England. In modern times, a black dress is thought to make a woman look thinner and is believed by many to look sexy.

Fish Jewelry History

2011-03-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

Fish scales were used in primitive times because of their availablitity (byproducts of cleaning fish for eating) and beauty (shiny and at times colorful). The whole fish as a symbol originated in various cultures. The fish was worn as a symbol of fertility and birth in various pagan cultures, including the ancient Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, and Celts, as well as others). The ancient Polynesians wore fish hooks as jewelry to symbolize prosperity and health because, as island people, they derived those benefits from the ocean. This custom has been particularly popular among the Maoris of New Zealand and has been continued in the Hawaiian culture. The fish is popular in Christian jewelry. It was a secret symbol used by the ancient Christians in Roman times to identify each other. They consider fishing a symbol of missionary activity, but the pagan Romans did not detect it as such because it was also a pagan symbol.
You can see beautiful flamework glass fish beads for jewelry making at Beadshaper and at Beadshaper Etsy

Heart and Love

2011-03-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

William Harvey demonstrated that the heart is a pump that drives the blood to circulate around the body, and that is what is scientifically known today. Emotions come from the brain. In ancient times and until the time of Harvey, the heart was thought to be the human organ from which emotions came. References to this concept are found in many documents, including the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Hebrew Bible, the writings of the Greek philosopher, Aristotle and the Roman physician, Galen, and the Christian New Testament. Although scientifically we now know that the heart's function is to pump blood, symbolically we still associate the heart and its beautiful shape with love.
You can see many heart shaped handcrafted glass beads at Beadshaper

Valentine's Day

2011-01-22T08:12:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is a holiday that celebrates love each year on February 14. In ancient pagan Rome, February 14 was the day before the begining of the Festival of Lupercalia which honored fertility. On that day, young women would write their names on pieces of paper which were placed in a jar. Each young man would pull out a paper from the jar and would be paired with the young lady on the paper during the entire festival. Pope Gelasius in 496 wanted to change the pagan Festival of Lupercalia into a Christian holiday. So he renamed February14 Valentine's day in memory of a Christian saint who was executed by the Romans. According to the legend, the Roman emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for a period of time so that it would not interfere with military service for the young Roman men whom he needed to fight in his army. Valentine was a priest who was executed for defying the emperor's law by secretly marrying young men and women. Chaucer revived the Valentine legend in a poem he wrote in 1391 honoring the marriage of the English King Richard II to his bride, Anne of Bohemia. Gift giving and card exchanging on Valentine's Day became popular in England in the 1700s. Esther Howland began the commercial production of Valentine cards in the United States in 1850. Since then Valentine cards have grown to one of the most important cards in the greeting card industry.

You can select a colorful focal heart beads for your Valentine at http://www.beadshaper.com/gallery

Periwinkle

2011-01-17T13:10:00.000-08:00

Periwinkle is a color in the blue-violet range of the color spectrum. The name comes from the flower of the the periwinkle plant which originated in Europe. The periwinkle plant is an evergreen that grows close to the ground. It was listed in an ancient Roman book of herbs written in the 2nd Century A.D. The ancient Greeks thought it would stop diarrhea. In Medieval England it was thought to stop bleeding. It was at times used in garlands. In French tradition it represented friendship. In German tradition it represented immortality. Today it is just a beautiful color.
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The flowers in the attached bead photograph are periwinkle color. This handcrafted glass bead can be found in the Beadshaper web site at http://www.beadshaper.com/

Fish in Mythology

2011-01-14T11:50:00.000-08:00

Fish can be found in the mythologies of various cultures all over the world. In the Mythology of the Celts and other Btitish Islanders, the salmon has been associated with wisdom. In ancient Greek Mythology there have been various fish-like creatures; hippocampos combines horse and fish; leocampos is a lion fish; taurocampos is a bull fish; aigicampos is a goat fish. In various pagan cultures the fish represented fertility. In Hindu culture, the fish represents creation (interesting in that science tells us that life began in the oceans). In Buddhist culture, the fish represents happiness and fidelity. In Japanese mythology, shachikoko is a carp with a dragon head, and namazu is a giant catfish that causes earthquakes. In Hawaiian and Fijian mythology, the shark god protects and guides sailors. In Maori mythology there is a large fish that gives birth to the stars.

Most of the Earth's surface is covered by water, and fish are an important source of food for humans. No wonder that so many varied cultures all over the world have woven the fish into their folklore.

The Beadshaper has a gallery devoted to glass beads in the form of sea creatures at http://www.beadshaper.com/gallery

History of Violet

2011-01-09T08:56:00.000-08:00

The color violet is named for the flower of the same name. It is the color between red and purple.

The color violet has a place in the Hindu religion in that it is associated with one of the Chakras. In Chinese thought it represents the harmony of the universe. The ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes called Athens the violet city. The color violet was first mentioned in English literature in the 14th Century. Newton in the 17th Century found violet to be the color at the short end of the visible spectrum of light at about 380 nm.The color violet continues to be appreciated to this day as a beautiful color.

The flowers in the attached bead photograph are violet color. This handcrafted glass bead can be found in the Beadshaper web site at http://www.beadshaper.com/

History of Gift Giving

2011-01-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

The custom of giving gifts goes back to prehistoric times. In the ancient world gifts were customarily given to kings and emperors by lesser nobles to show their loyalty. These gifts (also known as tributes) were often not voluntary. Gifts were often given to the gods in the form of sacrifices. Gift giving among people of equal stature was also done, but in those cases a reciprocal gift was considered appropriate. This might have been thebeginning of the concept of bartering which ultimately led to the inventions of money and trade. Gift giving became institutionalized in the festivals of the Romans and continued to the present time.......................................................................................................

You can find great gifts for any occasion at http://www.beadshaper.com/

Prehistoric Sea Life

2010-12-27T22:51:00.001-08:00

Life began in the sea billions of years ago. The first living things were bits of material that had the ability to reproduce themselves. Over time they evolved into organized groups of living materials called cells. In each cell various blobs of living material have various functions. Later cells evolved into organized collections of cells in which various cells had various functions. Eventually these collections of cells organized into organs which make up plants and later animals. Later, these sea animals evolved into various forms and eventually became fish. Later they evolved into reptiles and amphibians (like turtles) which live in the sea and also on land. Some reptiles evolved into completely land animals. Later mammals evolved on land, but a few species like the whales returned to the ocean.

The Beadshaper has opened a new gallery on her web site for handcrafted glass sea animal beads. To see the gallery, go to http://www.beadshaper.com/gallery and click the Sea Life link.

Prehistoric Jewelry

2010-12-13T18:24:00.000-08:00

The oldest evidences of the use of jewelry were necklaces, bracelets, and painted seashells found in caves in North Africa from about 80,000 years ago. Neanderthal people were believed to have worn seashell necklaces about 50,000 years ago. Animal teeth were worn as necklaces in addition to shells. People started importing exotic materials for making accessories that were not found in their own locations around 30,000 years ago. Beads were at times used for trading in primitive commerce. This was the precursor of money. Jewelry were manifestations of people’s awareness of their identities and were part of the progress toward civilization. Ultimately with the onset of civilization in Mesopotamia and Egypt, jewelry became more elaborate.

2010-11-28T08:39:00.000-08:00

THE HISTORY OF FLORAL DESIGNS
Plants have been producing flowers for millions of years as evidenced by flowers found in fossils producing natural flower designs. Prehistoric cave art usually depicted animals rather than plants. The ancient Egyptians had access to a variety of flowers because of the lush Nile river valley in which they lived. Flowers were worn as decorations and were also used to adorn their animals and chariots. The Egyptians started making glass beads with floral designs around 1200 BC. The ancient Greeks and later the Romans used flowers in their garlands and wreaths. They also further developed the art of floral design on beads and jewelry. The Byzantines later added fruit to the flowers in their wreaths. Flowers were used extensively in tapestries and rugs in the Moslem world during the Middle Ages. Floral design was found extensively in ancient Chinese and Japanese pottery to the present time. Greek and Roman art were shunned in most of Europe during the Middle Ages, but Greek and Roman flower art returned in the Renaissance period. The Venetians revived and further developed the art of flower design on glass beads and other glass art. The S shaped stem became popular in floral design during the Baroque period and has remained popular today. Floral designs became elaborate during the Victorian period. Flower arrangement continues to evolve and remains popular in our time.
Click Floral Pendants to see the Beadshaper's exciting series of floral designed lampwork glass pendants.

Fashion in Ancient Greece

2010-11-21T23:27:00.000-08:00

Fashion in ancient Greece varied according to location and time period. The Greeks liked loose fitting clothing. During the earlier ancient times, women draped fabric around them. In the late period, women started wearing clothing made of cut pieces of cloth that were sewn togther.The fabrics used were mainly wool and linen. Wool was more popular in winter and linen in summer. Wealthy people wore finer linen dyed different colors.
For footwear, people generally wore sandals outside and went bare foot inside. The poorest people usually went barefoot indoor and outdoor.
Jewelry was especially popular with wealthy people. It was passed on from generation to generation because of it's cost.
Hair styles varied from short to long. Long hair was often braided.
Light skin color was popular because wealthy women stayed indoors and were therefore pale from avoiding the sun. So, face powder that made the face look pale was very popular. Red iron oxide paste was used for lipstick. Red powder was used to give the cheeks a blush.

Fashion in Ancient Egypt

2010-10-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

Ancient Egyptian women were concerned with being fashionable. Clothing was made of light weight materials because of the warm climate. They usually used linen which is a cloth woven from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen came in various qualities. The nobility wore the finer more see through linen. The more coarse less expensive linen was worn by commoners. White linen was bleached by the sun. Other colors were produced with dyes. Women wore long tight gowns that were draped around their bodies, often pleated. Colorful jewelry was popular. Jewelry was worn as necklaces, collars, bracelets, in the hair, and on clothing. Footwear consisted of sandals.The sandals of the wealthy were made of leather. Poor people wore sandals made of less expensive materials or went barefoot. Cosmetics were popular in Egypt. Egyptian women were particularly known for their eye make-up. Perfumes were also popular. The fashions of ancient Egypt have inspired fashion over the many centuries since that time and continue to do so even today.

History of Perfume

2010-09-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

Orange Color

2010-07-25T22:50:00.001-07:00

Orange is a color that comes from mixing red and yellow. The word orange comes from the Sanskrit word naranga which is the name of the fruit, orange. The fruit and the color spread centuries ago from India through the Middle East to Europe. Orange, a city in southern France received its name because of the orange trade that occurred there. Orange became the French and later English name for the fruit and the color.Orange has some nationalist implications. William of Orange was a nobleman who inherited the principality of Orange in France in 1544. He later became active in the politics of the Netherlands and ultimately led a rebellion which freed the Netherlands from Spanish rule. Subsequently Orange has been the national color of the Netherlands. Another Dutch William of Orange ( a descendant of the earlier William) became King of England in 1688. Orange became the color of the Protestant Unionists of Northern Ireland because of William’s military victories in Ireland during the 1690s. Orange is also associated with a number of warm places where oranges are grown, most notably Orange County in California.
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You can see a number of handcrafted lampwork glass beads and pendants with orange accents at Beadshaper

Yellow

2010-07-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

Yellow is one of the 3 basic colors. It has had various associations and significances in various cultures over the years. Among the Indians of the Western Hemisphere, it has represented North to the Hopis and South to the Mayans. It represented air in ancient Greek culture. It has had a negative image in some cultures, being associated with cowardice, deceit, and criminality. On the other hand it was the royal color of the first Emperor of China. It has also been associated with the sun. Because of its brightness, it has been used where being noticed is important, for example in clothing worn by traffic guards and highway workers where it is important to be seen so as not to be hit by traffic and on school buses for the same reason. The races of man have been assigned colors in one system of categorizing, yellow being assigned to the races of East Asia. So the color yellow has represented various ideas (often opposing ideas) to various cultures throughout history. It is a beautiful color, especially when displayed and coordinated in an artistic manner.
The making of yellow glass by adding minerals dates back to ancient times beginning in Egypt and Mesopotamia. It was adopted by other Middle Eastern civilizations, then the Greeks, then the Romans, and later the Venetians during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. In modern times, yellow glass has various functions including but not limited to lenses of safety goggles as well as lampwork beads for jewelry.

Mother's Day

2010-04-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

Although Mother's Day as it is known in the United States dates back approximately 100 years, ancient polytheistic civilizations honored mothers through the celebration of gods that represented mothers. Isis was the mother goddess of the ancient Egyptians. The Greeks worshipped the mother goddess Rhea. The Romans celebrated Magna Mater (Great Mother). The holidays celebrating Rhea and Magna Mater both occurred in early Spring. Later in Christian Europe holidays developed honoring the "Mother Church." By the 17th Century, this evolved into Mothering Day in England which celebrated mothers. Mothers Day in the U.S.A. began in the early 20th Century through the efforts of a Sunday school teacher named Anna Jarvis after her mother's death. Her efforts resulted in President Woodrow Wilson proclaiming Mother's Day as an official holiday in 1914.

The Beadshaper offers a number of bead and jewelry items that would make great Mother's Day gifts on her web site at Beadshaper Gallery . Heart Shaped Beads are particularly popular for Mother's Day.

Carnival History

2010-03-21T23:28:00.000-07:00

Carnival is a holiday that goes back to the Middle Ages. It began in Italy and quickly spread to other Roman Catholic communities, first in Europe and then to Europe's colonies. In that way it became popular among Roman Catholic communities and other Christian communities around the world. It is a celebration before the period of Lent. Roman Catholics do not eat meat during Lent and temporarily give up other pleasures during that time. Carnival gives an opportunity to party to excess before the start of Lent. It involves wild music, dancing, and extravagant costumes. The word Carnival comes from Latinand means leaving meat. The most famous carnivals are those in Venice and Rio de Janeiro, but carnival occurs inmany other cities as well. The Mardi Gras in New Orleans is an American example of Carnival.
The word carnival in the U.S.A. and Canada describes traveling amusement parks that go from city to city. The origin goes back to the traveling shows ofthe 19th Century. However the beginning of the modern carnival was the World Columbian Exposition in 1893 in Chicago where the idea of a carnival with rides began. Since then carnivals and amusement parks have been part of the North American culture.
The Beadshaper has started a new Carnival Series of lampwork glass beads, pendants, and beaded jewelry inspired by the Carnival which you can see at Carnival Series

History of Blue

2010-03-13T21:50:00.000-08:00

Blue was once considered a hot color but is now considered a cool color. It is found in the flags of many countries and is the color of blue jeans. In the Turkish culture it is the color of amulets worn to ward off the Evil Eye. It now is often associated with sadness as in one is feeling blue. There is a type of jazz music which is known as the Blues.The Egyptians created blue pigment from cobalt thousands of years ago and used it in glass making. It was subsequently used by other ancient civilizations. Later it was perfected in glass making in 18th Century Europe. Azurite was discovered as a source of blue pigment in ancient China and spread to other lands. It became popular as a color in medieval European paintings.Indigo was developed as a blue dye in ancient India. It spread through the Far East and across Asia to Greece and Rome where it was given the name indigo because it came from the East.Ultramarine was a pigment first developed in Afghanistan during the Middle Ages and later was used in Italian Renaissance paintings. It was very expensive because it was made by grinding up lapis lazuli semiprecious stone.The first manufactured blue pigment was Prussian Blue which was created in Gerrmany in the 18th Century.
You can find green lampwork glass beads at Beadshaper Gallery

Viking Knit and Chainmail

2010-03-07T23:53:00.000-08:00

Viking Knit is a technique for making wire wrap jewelry that is reminiscent of chainmail. Chainmail was a type of protective clothing worn by soldiers in battle in the Middle Ages. It consisted of metal links which formed shirts, hoods, and leggings. This type of armour protected the soldier from cuts although not so much from crushing blows. The earliest known chainmail was worn by Persian soldiers in the 4th Century B.C. Later the ancient Celts used it extensively. The Romans learned about it from the Celts when they fought wars with the Celts in the early centuries A.D. Other European people, including the Vikings, soon adopted it. It remained popular in Europe throughout the Middle Ages until more advanced weapons made it less useful. In recent years jewelry artists adapted the method of attaching links together in making wire wrap jewelry and named this technique Viking Knit.

Examples of handcrafted Viking Knit wire wrap bracelets can be seen at Viking Knit Gallery

The Beadshaper teaches classes on how to make Bead Crochet jewelry. See Beadshaper Classes for details.

History of Green

2010-01-22T12:57:00.000-08:00

GREEN COLOR HISTORY
The color green is a blend of the basic colors yellow and blue. It is the color of chlorophyll which is found in plants and has therefore been associated with life by various cultures. For example, the ancient Egyptians used the color green for the floors of their temples. The ancient Greeks associated green with victory in battle. In Islam it is considered a sacred color. It is the national color of Ireland because of the intense green of the landscape in that island nation. In the Chinese culture green represents the East. Green is considered by many to represent freshness and from there newness leading to the slang word greenhorn alluding to someone who is a new immigrant. In the USA all paper money is printed in green leading to expressions such as “show me the green.” Green in many cultures represents envy as in the “green eyed monster.” It is also associated with illness or nausea as in “it made him turn green.”
Patina is a green color found on aged copper and bronze surfaces because of oxidation. Ancient coins and jewelry made of those metals often show a green patina.
Green glass gets its color from metallic materials mixed in to the glass. There are green glass artifacts dating back to ancient times. The art of making green glass was perfected by the Venetian glass makers in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance periods. Green has remained an important color in glass products to the present times.
You can find green lampwork glass beads at Beadshaper Gallery

The Color Red

2009-12-26T09:08:00.000-08:00

Red is one of the 3 basic colors. It is the color of blood and for that reason has been associated with the origin of life going back to prehistoric times. Prehistoric cave painters used red in painting animals. Red was often considered to have protective properties. Red material was at times buried in graves to protect the dead. Ancient hunters and warriors at times painted their spears with red blood. Red bedding was thought to be able to prevent illness. Red wedding clothes were at times worn by various ancient cultures including Rome, China, and others. The Medieval Christian Church used red in clerical garments and associated red with the cross. Red was a popular color for painting houses in Victorian Times although clothing at that time tended to have drab colors. In modern times, it is not unusual to find red in women's clothing and accessories although not often in men's clothing. Red is and has been a bright attractive color in glass beads even up to today.
You can find red lampwork glass beads, handcrafted by the Beadshaper, for sale at http://www.beadshaper.com/gallery

The History of Colors and Purple

2009-11-24T22:52:00.000-08:00

THE HISTORY OF COLORS
Color is important in art, beauty, and fashion. It certainly is paramount in the beauty of glass beads and jewelry. So I am now beginning a series of entries on the history of various colors. Before we start, lets talk about what color is. Colors are the way we perceive light. Black is the absence of light. All of visible light together is white. The 3 basic colors that make up white light are red, yellow, and blue. The other colors are combinations of those 3 basic colors. As for color in glass beads, the ancient Egyptians made colored glass by mixing various metals and minerals with the glass. The art spread to Phoenicia and Mesopotamia. Colored glass became popular in Europe during the Middle Ages because of its use in making stain glass windows in churches. The art of making colored glass became particularly developed in Venice. Colored glass remains popular today in glass beads and beaded jewelry.
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So, let's start with the color purple.
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THE HISTORY OF PURPLE
The color purple is a mixture of blue and red. The earliest purple dyes came from Phoenicia about 4000 years ago and were extracted from certain shell fish. The purple dyes were very expensive because it took many shell fish to make a small amount of dye. Therefore purple became the color of royalty in various empires including ancient Egypt, then Persia, and then Rome among others. During the Middle Ages it was used in the cloaks of the highest clergy in the Roman Catholic hierarchy. An English chemist named William Perkins in 1856 developed a method for making synthetic purple dye from coal tar. Then purple became relatively inexpensive and therefore available to common people.
You can find purple lampwork glass beads handcrafted by the Beadshaper at http://www.beadshaper.com/gallery
Posted by Rose Klapman at 9:12 AM 0 comments

Jewelry in King Arthur's time

2009-11-09T22:51:00.000-08:00

JEWELRY IN KING ARTHUR'S TIME
King Arthur was king of England in the early Middle Ages. Jewelry in his time was used not only for beauty but also for religious, status, and other cultural purposes. Silver was mined in Europe. Gold was usually obtained by melting down old Roman coins. Precious stones were generally imported from the East. Amber came from the Baltic Sea area. Pearls came from local oysters.
It was a time when the Roman Empire had recently collapsed and jewelry craft tried to imitate the art of ancient Rome. It was also a time when there was much conversion from the ancient Pagan religions of Europe to Christianity, and jewelry and other arts often employed religious symbols.

The photo depicted here is of a modern handcrafted lampwork glass pendant named for the Lady of the Lake, a mysterious beautiful character in the King Arthur legends who in the story gave the sword, Excalibur, to King Arthur, proving him to be the rightful King of Britain. It is made by the Beadshaper and can be found at the Beadshaper's Gallery under Pendants.

Fashion in Ancient Egypt

2009-10-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

Men and women in Ancient Egypt wore light linen clothing. Men's dress-like clothing was shorter, and women's dresses were longer. Dresses of aristocratic ladies were often beaded and tied at the waist to make the figure appear hour glass. Women wore heavy make-up for beauty and also for protection from the sun. Elaborate wigs were popular and clipped in a typically Egyptian fashion. Jewelry was popular for all classes, but jewelry of the aristocracy was made of precious metals and stones. Egyptian necklaces and bracelets tended to be heavy and clunky. The styles of ancient Egypt have been copied over the years for their beauty and sensuality, and some of them are still popular today.
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Are you interested in the history of jewelry in King Arthur's time? Click History at Beadshaper

FASHION IN ANCIENT SUMER

2009-09-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

The Sumerian civilization which existed from about 8000 B.C. to about 2000 B.C. is considered the first civilization in the world although much less sophisticated in the first 3000 years. Cities appeared after 5000 B.C. Sumer was located in the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East in the land which now makes up Iraq. The Sumerian ladies wore their hair in braids. The clothing consisted of a gown down to the ankles with one shoulder bare. Clothing materials consisted of wool and flax. In the early years before the process of weaving wool was invented, Sumerians wore sheepskin with the wooly side inward. Wealthy Sumerian ladies wore silver and gold jewelry as accessories including earrings, necklaces, pendants, and rings.

These earrings are not ancient Sumerian. They were made in modern times by the Beadshaper.

To see more of the Beadshaper's creations click Beadshaper Gallery

Watches

2009-08-30T22:50:00.001-07:00

HISTORY OF WATCHES
In the Middle Ages clocks were driven by heavy weights that made them stationary. Spring clocks were invented in the 15th Century which made them light enough so that by the 16th Century small clocks could be carried by a person leading to the development of the pocket watch which was carried in the pocket and hung on a chain. In the 20th Century the pocket watch was replaced by the wrist watch. The electronic quartz watch was introduced in 1969 which is more accurate and more convenient than the spring driven mechanical watch and has largely replaced it. Now we also have digital watches although the quartz watch remains popular.

You can find fashionable watches with hand made beaded wire wrapped watch straps at Beadshaper Gallery

History of Onyx

2009-08-01T23:49:00.000-07:00

HISTORY OF ONYX
Onyx was popular with the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The Greek Onyx was of a number of colors, but the Romans used the word to refer only to the black variety (which is what we usually call onyx today) and a reddish brown variety called sardonyx. Onyx has been often been used in making cameos both in ancient Rome down to more recent times because it's softness is conducive to carving. The black color of black onyx is often enhanced by a dyeing process because of its porousness. Black onyx and black clothing were worn by Queen Victoria of England after the death of her husband, Prince Albert. This made onyx very popular in England in the late 19th Century. It has remained a popular stone for jewelry to this day.

Handcrafted lampwork jewelry pieces complemented with onyx stones can be found in the Beadshaper's Boutique on the second floor of the Andersonville Galleria at 5247 N Clark Street in Chicago as well as on the web at http://www.beadshaper.com/

Antique African Ambroid

2009-07-17T14:20:00.001-07:00

Beads have been used in trade for centuries, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. “Amber" beads are highly prized in certain African cultures as status symbols. They are often included in the dowry which a woman brings into a marriage. The beads do not necessarily have to be natural amber. Natural amber is millions of years old petrified resin from trees. While we usually draw a distinction between natural and manufactured, to many African people manufactured amber-like beads impart the same status as natural amber. An interesting history has developed concerning Bakelite African ambroid beads. Dr. Leo Baekeland (1863-1944) was born in Belgium and migrated to the USA in 1889 at the age of 26. He invented Bakelite, the first true plastic, in 1907 by combining phenol and formaldehyde. He then formed the Bakelite Corporation which manufactured Bakelite. Dr. Baekeland was president of Bakelite from 1910 to 1939. When the Bakelite Corporation’s patent ran out in 1927, other companies started producing phenol/formaldehyde plastics. For a time, the word bakelite was used by many people to refer to any similar plastic.Bakelite was used to manufacture many products including beads and jewelry. It was made in various colors, one of which was an amber color which resembled natural amber. Bakelite was used in making jewelry that was produced in America and Europe for domestic sale in the early 20th Century (especially during the Depression when formerly wealthy people wanted more affordable jewelry), but it was also sold in Africa where the amber-like variety was very popular. During World War II, bakelite jewelry was no longer made because the material was needed to make products for the military.
Today, bakelite products manufactured in the early 20th Century, particularly beads and jewelry including those used in the African trade, are valued as antiques and collectibles. Rose has acquired a number of those antique African amber-like bakelite beads which she has incorporated into African ambroid jewelry which are available for sale on her web-site, Beadshaper.

The Affair of the Necklace

2009-06-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

This is a complicated story, but one with great political effect in 18th Century France. King Louis XV commissioned a very expensive diamond necklace from the jewelers, Boehmer and Bassenge, for his mistress, Madame Du Barry. Louis the XV died before the necklace was completed and Madame Du Barry was removed from the scene. The jewelers then tried to sell it to the new king and queen, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, but they refused. Then along came a woman by the name of Jean de Saint-Remy de Valois whose claim to fame was that she was the daughter of the illegitimate son of an earlier French king. She became the mistress of Cardinal Rohan who aspired to become a minister of the king. Jean de Valois and her husband concocted a plot in which she duped Cardinal Rohan into arranging a fictitious purchase of the necklace by Queen Marie Antoinette without the queen's knowledge. Jean de Valois' husband took the necklace out of France where it was broken up and the parts were sold off for large sums of money. When the jewelers tried to collect their commission from the queen, she refused to pay saying she knew nothing about the fictitious sale. Cardinal Rohan and the other people involved in the affair were arrested and there was a sensational trial. Cardinal Rohan was eventually aquitted. The queen then lost favor with the people because she appeared to be frivolous. This ended up being one of a number of factors leading to the French Revolution.
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The necklace in the picture is not the one in the Affair, but it can be found at the Beadshaper's Boutique in the Andersonville Galleria at 5247 N Clark Street in Chicago.
You alsocan see some great necklaces at http://www.beadshaper.com/ and at http://www.artisansaccomplice.com/artists/beadshaper/gallery?category_id=1576

Diamonds

2009-05-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

Ancient diamond mines existed in India which were the main source of diamonds at that time. The origin of diamond cutting to transform a rough diamond stone into a jewel is unclear, but the earliest diamond cutters were probably in India. However the Indians usually did minimal alterations to the rough stone because they felt that too much cutting would ruin the mystical value of the stone. The more sophisticated diamond cutting that we know today originated in Europe in the Middle Ages when Venetian traders brought diamonds back home from India. during the following centuries diamond cutting and trading spread to other parts of Europe, particularly Amsterdam, Bruges, and Antwerp. In the 15th Century, many of the traders and workers in the diamond industry in those 3 cities were religious Jews because of the relative religious tolerance practiced there at that time. There was a temporary hiatus in the diamond activity of Bruges and Antwerp when Spain took over Belgium temporarily in the 16 th Century and instituted the Inquisition there which drove out the Jewish diamond workers. But this ended when the Spanish were driven out and religious tolerance returned.
The discovery of diamonds in South Africa in the late 19th Century and the rise of the DeBeers Diamond Company there greatly increased the volume of diamonds on the market at a time when great wealth in the West, particularly the United States, provided a market to absorb the increased production. The rise of the Nazis in Europe in the mid 20th Century produced another temporary hiatus in the diamond industry of the Netherlands and Belgium when the Jewish diamond workers either fled Europe or were killed in the Holocaust. Many of those who escaped went to Palestine which later became Israel where the City of Ramat Gan is now one of the great diamond centers of the world. Many of the survivors returned to Antwerp which also remains one of the great diamond centers of today's world.
The Beadshaper does not make or sell any diamond jewelry, but she offers handcrafted glass beads, glass pendants, beaded jewelry, and semi-precious stone jewelry in her boutiques at the Andersonville Galleria in Chicago and the Bella Bazaar in Dana Point, California, as well as on her web site, http://www.beadshaper.com/

Andersonville History

2009-04-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

Andersonville is a neighborhood on the North side of Chicago centered around the corner of Clark Street and Foster Avenue. Historically, it is known for its Swedish community which began with the settlement of Swedish farmers in the area in the mid 1800s when the area was outside of the Chicago city limits. After the Chicago Fire in 1871, urban Swedish immigrants moved into the area from Chicago turning Andersonville into a suburb because it offered less expensive housing than the city. Around the turn of the century, Andersonville was incorporated into the city of Chicago. In recent years, although Andersonville still has a strong Swedish influence in its population and businesses, many descendants of the old Swedish immigrants have moved further north into the present day suburbs and other ethnic groups have moved in making the neighborhood multi-cultural. The area has also become popular with young professionals as well as Gays. It has also become a center for the arts. A number of shops devoted to various artistic disciplines can be found on Clark Street.

When you visit this fascinating neighborhood, please stop by the Beadshaper's boutique which is located in the Andersonville Galleria at 5247 N Clark Street. When you enter the Galleria, turn right to the staircase and walk up to the second floor. Then turn left and go around past the window to the next aisle. About halfway down that aisle, you will see the Beadshaper's Boutique. Please stop by and feast your eyes on the exciting colorful hand crafted flamework glass beads and beaded jewelry that the Beadshaper offers.

You can also see the Beadshaper's work at www.beadshaper.com/.

If you would like to read this in Swedish:

Andersonville är ett område på norra sidan av Chicago centrerad runt hörnet av Clark Street och Foster Avenue. Historiskt sett är det känt för sina svenska samhället som började med en lösning av svenska lantbrukare i området i mitten av 1800-talet då området var utanför Chicago stadens gränser. Efter Chicago Fire i 1871, stads svenska invandrare flyttade in i området från Chicago vrida Andersonville i en förort, eftersom det erbjöd billigare boende än i staden. Kring sekelskiftet, Andersonville införlivades med staden Chicago. Under de senaste åren, även om Andersonville fortfarande har en stark svenska inflytande på sin befolkning och företag, många ättlingar till de gamla svenska invandrare har flyttat längre norrut i dagens förorter och andra etniska grupper har flyttat för att göra kvarteret mångkulturellt. Området har också blivit populärt bland unga yrkesverksamma samt Gays. Det har också blivit ett centrum för konst. Ett antal butiker som ägnas åt olika konstnärliga discipliner kan hittas på Clark Street. När du besöker denna fascinerande neighborhood, snälla sluta med Beadshaper s butik som ligger i Andersonville Galleria på 5247 N Clark Street. När du anger Galleria, sväng höger till trapphuset och gå upp till andra våningen. Sväng vänster och gå runt förbi fönstret till nästa gång. Ungefär halvvägs ner den gången, kommer du att se Beadshaper's Boutique. Sluta med och festa ögonen på spännande färgstarka hand skapat flamework glaspärlor och pärlstav smycken att Beadshaper erbjudanden. Du kan även se Beadshaper arbete på www.beadshaper.com/.

BEAD TRADE IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHICAGO AREA

2009-03-23T22:54:00.001-07:00

Beads were used in early trading by the Native American communities in Illinois and the Chicago area. Before the arrival of Europeans, beads were made of natural materials like stones, bones, and shells. Beads have been found in excavations of mound dweller sites in Illinois dating back 2000 years. French explorers and traders in the 17th Century and later other Europeans introduced ceramic and then glass beads. Native Americans often used these beads to weave bands for clothing and jewelry. The Native American bead trade added an outlet which helped to stimulate the manufacture of beads in Europe. As bead manufacturing increased, the cost of production and therefore the price of beads declined, making beads more affordable and more widely used in trade.

The Beadshaper is hosting a drawing in honor of her new boutique for the sale of hand crafted glass beads, pendants, and beaded wire wrap jewelry at the Andersonville Galleria, 5247 N Clark Street, in Chicago. Please stop by for a chance to win an exciting beautiful glass pendant with a sterling silver bale.

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Pendants

2009-03-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

Pendants were among the earliest forms of jewelry. A copper pendant believed to have been made in Sumeria, the first civilization, around 8700 B.C. has been found by archaeologists. In Babylonia around the 8th Century B.C. seals that were used to sign documents by imprinting in wet clay tablets were worn as pendants. The earliest pendants were made of stone, but later glass and gemstones were substituted. The Pharaohs in agent Egypt wore a type of pendant called a cartouche. The cartouche had a rectangular shape and had the name of the Pharaoh inscribed on it. It was supposed to protect him from evil. The ancient Greeks made gold pendants. The Greek necklace often featured multiple small vase-shaped pendants portraying figures of deities in Greek mythology. The ancient Romans also made gold pendants, but they more often consisted of one focal pendant. Sometimes a cabochon gem would be set in the gold pendant. Pendants were also worn in ancient India and ancient China.

Do you live on the North Side of Chicago or anywhere in the Chicago area? The Beadshaper will be featuring a number of eye popping glass bead pendants in her new booth at the Andersonville Galleria on Clark Street. One of these pendants will really enhance the outfit you wear to the office or your casual wear in the evening. Please visit. With sensually vibrant but tasteful jewelry like this, who needs diamonds?

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Lapis Lazuli

2009-02-22T08:48:00.000-08:00

Lapis lazuli is a rare opaque blue stone. The darker the blue, the greater the quality. The word lapis comes from the Latin word for stone. Lazuli means blue and comes from Sanskrit by way of Persian to Arabic to Latin. It was first mined in the Indus Valley in what is now northern Afghanistan (known in ancient times as Bactria) around 7000 BC. Lapis from Afghanistan is still considered the finest quality even to this day. Lapis was subsequently traded to other places where it was prized for its beauty and rarity and available only to the nobility. Carvings made of lapis were found in burial tombs of the royalty of ancient Sumer, the first historical civilization in Mesopotamia. The ancient Egyptian royalty owned jewelry made of lapis which they imported from Bactria . They ground up lapis to make paint and cosmetics. Medieval artists also used lapis to make a bright blue color for their paintings.
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Lapis lazuli is een zeldzame ondoorzichtige blauwe steen. De donkerder het blauw is, hoe hoger de kwaliteit. Lapis Het woord komt van het Latijnse woord voor steen. Lazuli betekent blauw en komt uit het Sanskriet door middel van een Perzisch naar Arabisch naar het Latijn. Het werd voor het eerst gewonnen in de Indus-vallei in wat nu het noorden van Afghanistan (bekend in de oudheid als Bactria) rond 7000 voor Christus. Lapis uit Afghanistan nog steeds wordt beschouwd als de beste kwaliteit, zelfs op deze dag. Lapis werd vervolgens worden verhandeld op andere plaatsen waar werd gewaardeerd om haar schoonheid en zeldzaamheid en alleen beschikbaar voor de adel. Carvings gemaakt van lapis werden gevonden in graf graven van de royalty's van het oude Sumer, de eerste historische beschaving in Mesopotamië. De oude Egyptische royalty eigendom sieraden gemaakt van lapis die zij uit Bactria. Zij gemalen lapis up te maken van verf en cosmetica. Middeleeuwse kunstenaars ook gebruikt lapis om een helder blauwe kleur voor hun schilderijen.

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Beads and Superstition

2008-12-27T21:07:00.000-08:00

Beads have been used for religious purposes and for purposes related to superstition. Although the line between the two can sometimes be fuzzy, I would define religion as a belief in a deity (or deities) to give meaning to our temporary lives in an otherwise chaotic existence. Superstition deals with small disconnected issues. The use of beads in superstition assumes that they have some magical power to ward off evils. Beads in religion are tools to help in communicating with God (or gods). Anyway, beads can be beautiful in their own right, whatever their purpose.
So, having defined superstition as well as I can, let’s go on to some of the history of beads and superstition.

Evil Eye
Probably, the most widespread superstitious bead with a long history is the Evil Eye. This type of bead dates back to prehistoric times and has been found particularly in ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, Asia Minor, the Middle East, and Europe. The concept is that someone can cause you harm by giving you the Evil Eye. Beads shaped and colored to look like an eye were made to ward off this evil.

Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt heart shaped beads were believed to promote health. They were also often buried with the dead to continue good health into the afterlife. Another ancient Egyptian bead called the menat was believed to protect women and bring them love. A lotus shaped bead was believed to give intelligence, and a fish bead was believed to ward off evil. Eye shaped beads to fight the Evil Eye were typically blue in color.

Other Ancient Civilizations
The Romans believed amber beads could ward off illnesses. A ram shaped bead was believed by some Middle Eastern civilizations to give strength.

Adder Beads
Adder beads were beads made of a glass-like material found in Britain since ancient times. The peasants believed that they were made by adders (poisonous snakes). They were believed to cure various ills in people and livestock as well as to help with difficult pregnancies

You can see modern day handcrafted glass beads at Beads

Bracelet History

2008-11-29T13:39:00.001-08:00

Bracelets date back to prehistoric times when bones, shells, seeds, pieces of wood, and stones were strung on cords of plant material. These beads were often thought to have protective power for the person wearing them. The ancient Egyptians developed bracelets into elaborate jewelry pieces with precious stones attached to gold and silver. The Egyptians wore bracelets to show their status in society and believed that when they died they would be place in the proper place in the afterworld according to their jewelry. The Romans made very elaborate designs in the metal of their bracelets. In Medieval Europe, Christians adopted many pagan customs of their ancestors including the wearing of protective amulets on their bracelets to ward off evil spirits. Charm bracelets became popular in Victorian times for decorative rather than utilitarian purposes. The popularity of bracelets for beauty continues to today.

You can see some of the bracelets handcrafted by the Beadshaper at Bracelets

Prehistoric and Ancient Bead Trade

2008-10-19T22:33:00.000-07:00

Beads have been involved in trade going back to prehistoric times. Excavations at Skhul in Israel found 100,000 year old small shells that were used as decorative beads. The location of the excavation was some distance from the sea where the shells were collected indicating that they were brought by someone to that location, possibly bartered. The beads had holes in them. If those holes were made by humans, this would indicate that they were probably strung and used for ornamentation. Similar shell beads have also been found in South Africa dating back 75,000 years and in Algeria dating back 30,000 to 90,000 years.
Beads in the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia beginning with Sumer were more sophisticated and often were made of clay, metal, or semi-precious stones. Mesopotamia developed trade including beads with the other civilizations of the time, especially Egypt, but also Persia and India. The Mesopotamian crafters were known for their Carnelian beads. The Egyptian crafters were known for their lapis lazuli beads. Lapis stones were mostly mined in what is now Afghanistan and imported into Egypt where the raw material was made into beads and other objects. Bead making in China and in the Mayan civilization in the Americas developed independently. The Chinese were know for their jade beads. Beads made in the various places were carried to far away places over trade routes. As far as we know, the Mayans never were involved in the bead trade outside of the Americas because their civilization pre-dated the discovery of the New World by Columbus.
Glass bead making was developed in Egypt. The Phoenicians, who were active in trade, picked it up and transported it to other civilizations. Glass bead making was further developed in Greek and later roman civilizations.
You can see modern day handcrafted glass beads at Beads

Early History of Silver

2008-09-20T18:27:00.001-07:00

The use of silver by man dates back to 4000 B.C. The first silver mines are believed to have been in Anatolia. The Anatolian mines supplied silver to the craftsmen of the ancient civilizations of Asia Minor, the Near East, and Greece. The cupellation process of extracting silver from ores containing silver and lead was developed in Chaldea around 2500 B.C. Silver mining in ancient times was often done by slaves because of the toxic effects of lead poisoning to the miners. The Minoan and Mycenaean civilization on the island of Crete became especially active in silver craftsmanship until their decline between 1600 and 1200 B.C. Then the silver mines at Laurium near Athens became the major source of silver for the emerging Greek civilization. The next major source of silver mining developed in Spain first supplying Carthage and later the Roman Empire. After the Moorish invasion of Spain in the 8th Century A.D., the source of silver for Europe was diversified into Central and Eastern Europe. After the discovery of the New World in 1492, new sources of silver were found in the Americas.

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Beads and Religion

2008-08-24T18:10:00.000-07:00

Beads have been involved in religion for millenia. The English word "bead" is derived from the old Anglo-Saxon prayer or request (as in the German word "bitte"). Archeologists have found glass beads in the graves of early Medieval Anglo-Saxon graves. The earliest religion to have used beads extensively appears to have been Hinduism from which the use of prayer beads passed to the other major Eastern religion Buddhism . Hindu and Buddhist prayer beads are called mala. They are often in strands of 108 beads representing the 108 obstacles one must overcome to reach Nirvana or Heaven or Enlightenment. In some religious groups, only monks use 108 beads while lay people use only 30-40 because less is required of them. Devotees of the Hindu god Shiva use beads made of a particular seed. Devotees of the Hindu god Vishnu use carved wooden beads. Buddhist beads were originally made of seeds and wood from the bodhi tree but subsequently have become made of various materials as Buddhism has spread to various countries. Later in the early Middle Ages the use of beads in prayer spread to Islam and Christianity. Islamic prayer beads are known as subha (from the Arabic word for "exalt"). Each strand of Roman Catholic prayer beads is known as a rosary because the rose in Roman Catholicism represents perfection. Interestingly, Judaism does not use prayer beads. Judaism does use cloth fringes on the corners of prayer shawls, but this comes from the Bible directly and is not related to the bead tradition.

You can see modern day handcrafted glass beads at Beads

Origins of the Glass Bead Trade in the Americas

2008-07-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

During Pre-Columbian times, the Natives of North and South America made and used beads made of various stones, bones, and shells. Glass making was not known to them. The European explorers, beginning with the Spanish and Portuguese Conquistadors, and later the Dutch, French, and English introduced glass beads which were highly prized by the Native Americans. These glass trade beads were used by the Europeans (beginning with Columbus or perhaps even earlier with the Vikings) to purchase various commodities. To the Europeans, the beads were cheap in comparison to the value which the American products brought when imported to Europe. Beads were included in the purchase of the island of Manhattan by the Dutch. The Hudson’ Bay Company used glass beads to buy furs. The demand for beads to trade was important in the growth of the glass bead industry in Europe which was a mainly centered in Venice.

BEADSHAPER NEWS

We are going transcontinental. The Beadshaper will be opening a booth in the Andersonville Galleria at 5247 N Clark St in Chicago, Illinois in the Spring of 2009. If you live in the Chicago area, please visit this Spring. You can keep updated at the Beadshaper Off the Web page

Beaded Clothing

2008-06-14T08:35:00.001-07:00

Embroidering clothing with beads goes back to prehistoric times. A fossil of a Cro-Magnon man from 30,000 B.C was excavated in Russia. His fur clothing was beaded with ivory beads. Northern Chinese animal hide clothing containing embroidered shell beads dating from 5000 BC have been found. In ancient times the Egyptians embroidered beads made of quartz into their clothing. Clothes with beaded sleeves were found in an excavation in Central Asia of a Bactrian settlement of the first Century B.C. Beads were embroidered into religious clothing in Europe in the Middle Ages (from around 1100 A.D.). Later beginning in Renaissance times beaded embroidery became more common and elaborate in secular clothing. Beaded clothing was particularly popular in African and American Indian cultures. Beaded clothing was considered a symbol of royalty in many African cultures. In some African tribes from the 16th Century, the king would wear clothing made completely of beads. Beaded clothing, belts, and moccasins have been used by American Indian tribes for centuries. The beads used in making clothing were important items of trade in various cultures. The beads used for embroidery were usually made of shells, bones, or stones in prehistoric and early historic times, but with the invention of glass, that material became popular for sewing into clothing.

Would you like to sew beads into your clothing?
BEADS Click here to see some of the handcrafted glass beads that the Beadshaper is offering.

Crystals

2008-05-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

Crystals have been found in prehistoric graves and were known in ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India as well as among early Native Americans. The earliest crystals occurred as natural stones but early civilizations began making artificial crystals by adding lead to glass to give it brilliance. George Ravenscroft improved this method of making crystals in 1676. Daniel Swarovski invented a machine to cut crystals in1892. He moved his crystal company to the Rhine River in Austria where he used the river for energy to run his machines. The crystals he made were called rhinestones after the Rhine River. Now the word rhinestone is used to refer to any small leaded crystal.

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Ancient Pendants

2008-04-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

Pendants were among the earliest forms of jewelry. A copper pendant believed to have been made in Sumeria, the first civilization, around 8700 B.C. has been found by archaeologists. In Babylonia around the 8th Century B.C. seals that were used to sign documents by imprinting in wet clay tablets were worn as pendants. The earliest pendants were made of stone, but later glass and gemstones were substituted. The Pharaohs in agent Egypt wore a type of pendant called a cartouche. The cartouche had a rectangular shape and had the name of the Pharaoh inscribed on it. It was supposed to protect him from evil. The ancient Greeks made gold pendants. The Greek necklace often featured multiple small vase-shaped pendants portraying figures of deities in Greek mythology. The ancient Romans also made gold pendants, but they more often consisted of one focal pendant. Sometimes a cabochon gem would be set in the gold pendant. Pendants were also worn in ancient India and ancient China.
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Beryl and Aquamarine

2008-02-18T23:04:00.000-08:00

Beryl is a gem which contains the element beryllium. The name is derived from the ancient Greek word beryllos. Pure beryl is clear but there are varieties wth various ranges of color. Emerald is a green variety. Aquamarine ranges from light blue and bluish green varieties to dark blue. Emeralds have been mined in upper Egypt since ancient times and were traded in Egypt and Mesopotamia as early as 4000 BC. Ancient people thought beryl had healing and protective properties. Beryl powder was used in Roman times to treat eye disease. Aquamarine gems were worn by sailors in the belief it would protect them from the sea. People in the Middle Ages thought aquamarine would protect them from poisoning.

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Copper

2008-02-18T22:59:00.000-08:00

Copper was the first metal mined at the dawn of civilization about 10,000 BC in Mesopotamia and Persia. It was first used for trinkets and tools, then for pots and pans. Bowls were made by hollowing out a block of wood, placing a sheet of copper on it, and hammering the copper to fit the shape of the mold. The ancient Egyptians found that copper was the best material for water pipes. Some copper pipes found in ancient Egyptian buildings remain intact today thousands of years later. The Egyptians also developed bronze (which is harder than copper) by alloying tin with copper. Much of the copper used in Egypt was mined in the Timna Valley in Israel and much of the Greek and Roman copper came from Cyprus. Copper later came into use in India and China. The Pre-Columbian civilizations of the Western Hemisphere developed copper mining independantly. European scientists discovered the ability of copper to conduct electricity much later in the 17th and 18th Centuries. That discovery was necessary for the scientific advances that made the world what it is today.
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Rhodium

2008-02-18T01:02:00.000-08:00

An English chemist named William Hyde Wollaston was the first person to isolate rhodium. He received some ore from South America and extracted platinum and palladium from it. That left a dark red residue. The residue consisted of sodium rhodium chloride. Wollaston treated the red residue with hydrogen creating a chemical reaction which separated out sodium chloride leaving a bright silver color residue of the element rhodium. Today rhodium is used in jewelry as well as an electical conductor and an alloy in other precious metals.

The intricate metal beads featured in the necklace in the picture are made of rhodium. The blue glass beads are lampwork. You can click on the picture to enlarge it and get a better view of the rhodium beads.

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Necklace History

2008-01-20T22:24:00.000-08:00

Prehistoric necklaces were often made of bones and shells on a string. Gold necklaces appeared in Mesopotamia about 2500 BC and stones were added around 2000 BC. Gold collars were worn by wealthy and noble men and women in ancient Egypt. Persian nobility wore pearl necklaces around 500 BC. Pendants were popular in Greece during the classical period 500-300 BC. Gold became prevalent in Greek necklaces during the Greek empire period after the time of Alexander the Great. The Etruscans in Italy wore gold necklaces going back to the 8th Century BC. The Romans at first discouraged the wearing of jewelry, but later started wearing necklaces with gemstones after the 1st Century AD. Jewelry was discouraged in early Medieval Europe, but choker and long necklaces, often made of pearl chains with pendants consisting of gems or metal crosses became fashionable in Renaissance times. Necklaces in Asia were worn since ancient times. Indian necklaces were known for silver filigree, silver beads, precious and semi-precious stones with different styles in various regions. The Aztec nobility in pre-Columbian Mexico wore necklaces of gold beads in the form of animals. The Hawaiian islanders have worn flower necklaces for centuries.

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Earrings History

2008-01-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

Earrings in the dawn of civilization had religious significance and only later were worn for fashion. The oldest known earrings were found in graves of nobility in Mesopotamia and date back to about 2500-3000 BC. Ancient earrings were mostly hoop and pendant styles although a plug style was worn in ancient Egypt. Earrings were a sign of wealth because poor people could not afford the expensive materials of which they were made. There was a superstion that they made eyesight better. The wearing of earrings declined in Medieval Europe at which time they were considered too flashy but returned again in the early 17th Century. They temporarily went out of fashion in the early 18th Century when bonnets which obscured the ears were in fashion. Screw back earrings were invented and became popular in the early 20th Century. Light and simple styles were popular in the 1950s. More variety in color and texture became popular in the 1960s. Pierced earrings came back into style in the 1970s and have remained so since then.

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Amethyst

2007-12-18T07:47:00.000-08:00

Amethyst is a purple quartz that was known to prehistoric people as evidenced by amethyst stones found in neolithic graves. The word comes from Greek and means without drunkeness. The ancient Greeks believed that drinking wine from an amethyst cup would prevent intoxication. Nobility from those of ancient Egypt to the more recent monarchs of 19th Century Europe wore amethyst jewelry. Its purple color is traditionally associated with royalty. Each of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel had its own stone. Amethyst was the stone of the tribe of Dan. The Christian clergy in Rennaisance times considered amethyst a sign of chastity and often wore amethyst rings.

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Aventurine

2007-12-03T07:12:00.000-08:00

Aventurine glass was first created by a Venetian glass maker in Renaissance times who accidentally contaminated his glass with copper dust. The result was an attractive sparkly look. This method of glass making became a closely guarded secret of Venetian glass makers for centuries. The name aventurine comes from the Italian word aventura which means by chance because of how it was discovered. The word aventurine is also used to describe goldstone which is a semi-precious stone that was known before the discovery of aventurine glass but given the name aventurine later.
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Freshwater Pearls

2007-10-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

Pearls are calcified nodules that grow in mollusks due to an irritation of the inner lining of the shell. This irritation occurs infrequently which accounts for the rarity of natural pearls. Freshwater pearls come from mussels that live in freshwater. Saltwater pearls come from oysters that live in salt water. People realized even in ancient times that pearl production in mussels and oysters could be artificially induced, thus creating cultured pearls. The technique of culturing pearls was greatly perfected by Japanese pearlmakers in the early 20th Century and was particularly centered at Lake Biwa near Kyoto. The Lake Biwa pearl industry has declined in recent decades because of pollution in the lake, and China has become the major producer of cultured freshwater pearls.

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Dichroic

2007-09-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

Modern dichroic glass is made by depositing layers of metallic oxides onto glass in a vacuum chamber. These layers act like prisms to refract light making an irridescence. Lampwork artists incorporate bits of dichroic glass into their glass beads to create dichroic accents.
The earliest forms of dichroic-like materials occurred as natural phenomena going back to prehistoric times. The first man made dichroic-like glass was created in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia by fusing glass. The modern dichroic process was first developed in the 20th Century for use in photography and in the aerospace industry. Later, in the 1990s, glass artists became aware of it and began using it in glass art because of its beauty. Since then it has become one of the most popular modalities for accenting glass beads.

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Chalcedony

2007-08-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

Chalcedony is a translucent stone typically light blue or light purple. It is named for the ancient Greek port city of Chalcedon which existed in Asia Minor from the 7th Century BC. It is now a suburb of Istanbul, Turkey called Cakilkoy. It is believed that the nearby city of Sardis began mining chalcedony in the 5th Century and used the port of Chalcedon to ship it. The stone was known as chalcedony because it came from the port of Chalcedon. The Romans used chalcedony for making seals. They also used it to view eclipses of the sun because of its tanslucency. It was made into tools and containers in early times because of its hardness. Various people from ancient times to the Renaissance (and even a few today) ascribed magical powers to chalcedony and wore amulets made from the stone to protect them from evil. Some ancient Greek mariners wore chalcedony amulets because they thought it would protect them from drowning. It was used along with other stones in 16th century Florence in making Comesso pictures for table tops and wall panels. It is the official state gem stone of Nebraska today.

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Lampwork in Venice

2007-07-30T21:53:00.000-07:00

Venetian glass making began in the 8th Century, and subsequently Venice became the glass making center of Europe during the Middle Ages. Venetian merchant ships traveled to all the great glass making centers of the Mediterranean area and brought back their skills to Venice. Venetian glass making was also influenced by the glass making centers of northern Europe. Marco Polo is believed to have brought the art of lampwork (glass bead making) from his travel to China. Beads were an important commodity in the Venetian merchant trade because of their small size. Venice was especially known for its chevron beads which had a corrugated pattern. Venetian glass making declined in the 17th Century and remained so during the years when Venice was part of the Austrian Empire, but a revival occurred in the late 19th Century after Venice bracame part of the new independant Italy. By the 1920s, art deco glass further promoted the Venetian glass industry. Venice continues to be an important source of glass and particularly glass beads.
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Wire Wrapping in Ancient Times

2007-06-09T07:34:00.000-07:00

Wire wrapping is the art of wrapping wires together to make jewelry designs and to attach beads and stones to jewelry. Pre-historic people used wire like fibers of plants and animals to string together beads which also consisted of plant and animal materials. The rise of civilization in Sumeria about 6000 years ago brought the introduction of metal jewelry. The earliest metal wires were made by taking thin sheets of metal and drawing them out into very thin strips which were folded lengthwise. Other ancient civilizations followed in metal making and along with it the art of making metal jewelry and wire wrapping, first Egypt and the Indus Valley, later Greece, Rome, and China.
Copper was the first metal developed. Gold came later (about 4000-3000 BC) and was particularly prominent in the jewelry of ancient Egypt. Although the Sumerians in Mesopotamia were probably the first to mine gold, Egypt was particularly rich in gold both because there were large gold deposits in the territories of the Egyptian empire, and because Egypt received gold in tribute from other countries. Gold was more suitable for jewelry making than copper because its softness made it easier to make into links and wires. Also as copper and bronze (a copper and tin alloy) became more prevalent and came into general use, gold was prized for its rarity.
The making of metals and using them in jewelry was also developed independently in the more advanced civilizations of the Americas in ancient times. The conquistadors found to their surprise that the Incas and the Aztecs were as developed in metal making as the Europeans.

Rose uses the wire wrap technique in creating most of her jewelry.

WIRE WRAP Click here to see her wire wrap work.

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History of lampwork

2007-04-25T22:03:00.000-07:00

This is the Bead and Jewelry History page of Rose's web-site, http://www.beadshaper.com/ Periodically (about once a month) we publish a new essay. The introductory essay is on the History of Lampworking.

HISTORY OF LAMPWORKING
Lampworking is the art of melting glass over a flame and winding it into glass beads. People started making beads at least 40,000 years ago in pre-historic times. The earliest beads were probably made from seeds and berries, and then later stones and bones. The idea of stringing them together began about 30,000 years ago. Beads in ancient times were used to decorate bodies, clothes, boxes, and many other objects. Glass making was invented about 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia. The earliest glass objects were only owned by royalty because of their rarity. Only later did they become available to others. The ancient Egyptians made ceramic beads and later glass beads. The Greeks and Romans developed the technique of making glass beads with mosaic patterns. Early European glass makers limited their art to certain families who passed it on from one generation to the next. Venice became the center of glass making in Renaissance times. Glass making spread to other parts of Europe and glass beads were carried by merchants and explorers all over the world for trade with indigenous people. Today glass beads are not reserved for royalty or traded for land, furs, and tobacco, but intricate and unique glass beads can be appreciated by anyone with an eye for beautiful art.

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