Introduction to Glass Beadmaking:
A brief history of beads, safety and equipment, and making your first bead
Baroness Aibhilin inghean Ui Phaidin
Mistress Lissa Underhill
History of Beads
The first beads to be discovered were dated to about 38,000 B.C.E., which is about the time that the Homo sapiens were replacing the Neanderthals. They were made from animal teeth and bones and were worn as pendants. Beads continued to be found in Western and Central Europe, the Mediterranean, and Russia as well as India, China, Korea, Africa and Australia. The design of the beads and how they were combined continued to develop as early as 17,000 to 10,000 B.C.E. Early humans also used ivory and shells to make beads, and used volcanic glass or obsidian to make tools, weapons and jewelry. Early beads were worn as displays of hunting prowess, for spiritual expression and protection, and as a means of personal identity. Beads also began to be found as grave offerings.
Man-made glass and glass beads began in Mesopotamia around 3,000 B.C.E. and then spread to Egypt. The Egyptian glass beads were as treasured as precious stones and were primarily used symbolically. As the Egyptian civilization was collapsing and the military conquests of the Mediterranean area were growing, glass objects began to be produced for trade and commerce instead of just for the use of the elite. The Phoenicians were known for the glass making skills learned from other cultures as well as those they developed themselves. After the founding of Islam and with the development of the Muslim cultures, Islamic glass working flourished from 700 C.E. to 1400 C.E. Though they utilized the techniques found in Egypt and the Roman Empire, the Islamic artisans also integrated new styles and techniques into their bead making. The international trade of Islamic merchants enabled connections between Islamic artisans and those in other areas such as Scandinavia, India and China.
As the Roman rule began, glassmaking spread to areas such as Spain, France and Rhineland. As the Romans traveled trade followed. As different cultures became more advanced and connected, the level of craft skills and the spread of skills between cultures grew. The complex artistry with detailed decoration and shaping of glass beads can begin to be seen. As the Roman Empire fell, glass working became more regional. During the Migration Period in Europe (i.e. from the 4th -8th centuries) cultures such as the Franks, Merovingians, and Anglo-Saxons were developing their own styles. Towards the end of the Migration Period, around 800 to 1000 C.E., there was glass bead making in Viking towns such as Ribe and Birka. The Vikings both brought back beads from their travels to areas such as Northern and Eastern Europe. As the Vikings often settled in areas where they traded, beads were found in those locations too.
The development of the Christian era meant that people were no longer burying with their goods and jewelry was inhibited by the Church as it was considered to be a Pagan practice. Bead making diminished until the 15th century when it reappeared and flourished in Venice. From the Renaissance to the 20th Century, the European glass bead industry grew as did the development of manufacturing techniques, the volume of bead production and the variety of beads produced. Beads were part of the more complex trade routes along with other goods; with beads going from Europe to Africa. The Venetians set up bead making centers in Holland, Bohemia and Moravia (i.e. now Czechoslovakia) which prospered as did the variety of type of and volume of beads produced. Though there was bead making in other areas, the glass making in Venice was unmatched.
Ancient glass had the same components as the types of glass used by bead makers today: silica, soda (a flux to lower the melting point of the silica) and lime (calcium as a stabilizer to harden the glass and to keep the ingredients in their cohesive form). Silica comes from sand or flint (i.e. ground siliceous rocks). The more silica, the softer the glass. Soda (flux) was made from the ash of burned aquatic plants or potash which is from the ash of woodland plants. It is now produced chemically and therefore is more easily accessible. The addition of extra ingredients, either accidental or purposeful, change the quality of the glass. The addition of metals created different colors: cobalt- blues and green, iron- green, manganese- purple, cuprous oxide- opaque red, antimony- white, and lead and antimony- yellow. In the late Bronze Age manganese was deliberately added to create a colorless glass.
Heat is needed to form glass from its raw ingredients. It is then used to re-heat, shape and manipulate pre-shaped glass rods. In the ancient world the pre-shaped forms of glass, such as rods, ingot, grain or lump of glass, were sold or traded to glass workers’ workshops all over. Period heat sources were stone or clay structures fired with wood or charcoal. The Venetians used oil lamps which is where the term lamp working came from. Today modern heat sources of torches with fuels are used.
There were different methods of working the glass in period. Hot trailing used a ceramic dish or crucible in which glass was melted and a metal rod was placed in the molten glass to pick it up and then wind it onto the mandrel. Ribbon winding or winding used a rod of glass that was heated and then wound onto the mandrel. The winding method is what we use today, but with more widely available, diverse, and sophisticated glass options.
Safety and Equipment
We are using hot head torches and map gas. As we are working with fire and the glass rods can crack, wearing natural fibers, closed toe footwear and long sleeves, having long hair tied back and wearing safety glasses is needed. We’re using inexpensive clear glasses. Once you’re using the torch consistently, having the Didymium glasses is important protection for your eyes from the flash of flame that occurs from the soda burning off the glass rod. With these glasses on you cannot see the flash. If a small piece of glass cracks off stay calm, and if it lands on you just brush it off. Never stand up with the flame on; always turn it off first before moving away.
The flame has 3 areas, the lowest being the blue flame right above the torch. We do not use this area. If your glass goes down into the blue, you’ll hear a hissing sound. The next area up is the “working area” where we melt, wind and work the glass. The last area up is where we pre-heat the glass rod and begin to cool down the bead. In addition to the torch and the flame, the areas around the flame including the sides, front, behind and even well above the flame are hot. So do not reach above or across the torch. Pay attention to where you have your glass rods and tools; always making the sure the hot side is away from you.
We use glass rods that are opaque and transparent. The opaque rods are softer and will melt more easily. The colors of some rods are easier to see when melted and those colors can be easier to work with initially (i.e. yellow will turn red and red will turn black). We put bead release made from clay onto the mandrel so that we can get our finished beads off of the mandrel. Glass will stick to uncoated mandrels. While making a bead, if you feel that the glass is not sticking to the mandrel or the bead release has come off at the edge of the bead, stop and put the mandrel down on the cookie sheet. You’ll need to start over.
The glass rod is held in the dominant hand in an underhanded pencil-like grip. Cold glass needs to be tempered or heated up slowly or it will shock or crack so you will hold the rod vertically as you introduce it to the flame moving just the end of the rod in and out of the flame. Point it away from you and down because whichever direction the tip of the rod is pointed is the direction any broken glass will fly. Once the tip of the glass rod begins to glow, turn your wrist so that the glass rod is horizontal. You very slightly roll the glass rod up and down so that all “sides” of the rod are heated and melted. Keep the end of the glass rod in the flame and it will melt into a ball or “gather”. The smaller the gather, the easier it is to manipulate when first learning to make beads. The bigger the gather, the more glass you’ll be winding onto the mandrel. As you’re heating up your glass rod you’ll need to warm up your mandrel in the flame too. The molten glass won’t stick to a cool mandrel and bead release.
The mandrel is held in your non-dominant hand with an overhand grip that allows you to rotate the mandrel. Once the gather is ready and your mandrel is warmed, you turn your wrist so that the glass rod is back to being vertical. Touch the tip the gather to the heated mandrel. The end of the glass rod should be in the flame and the mandrel is just below the flame. Then rotate the mandrel away from you as you slightly pull the glass rod toward you. Keep the mandrel and the glass rod in the same position as you wind the glass around mandrel making a complete circle. In order to remove the glass rod from the bead you pull the glass rod towards you and down slightly and let the flame cut the glass.
You put your glass rod down on the cookie sheet and continue to rotate the mandrel away from you. Glass wants to be spherical but gravity will also take effect. Rotating the bead will allow it to form evenly; if one “side” is bigger than the other or starts to droop, holding that side on the top of the mandrel in the flame briefly will help the glass to even out. Making sure that you’re holding the mandrel straight horizontally will also help to insure a more even bead.
Once the bead is “done”, move the bead just behind the flame as you continue to rotate the mandrel so that the bead keeps its shape as it cools enough to lose its glow. This takes about 10 seconds. Then turn off the flame and do the “tink” test; clinking the bead onto metal. Once you hear a “tink” versus a “thud” you know it is cool enough to go into the can of vermiculite to finish cooling down slowly.
Citations:
Cummings, Keith, A History of Glassforming, University of Pennsylvania Press, Chapters 1-4
Dubin, Lois Sherr, The History of Beads: from 30,000 B.C. to the Present, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York.
Tettinger, Corina, Passing the Flame (A Beadmakers Guide to Detail and Design), BonzoBucks & Books Publishing, 2002
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