Fascinating example of two bundled cane patterns. Bundled canes were the first technique used for making murruine, before cased canes became the norm. However, the use of relatively large amounts of white, the inclusion of turquoise, plus the distinctiveness of the patterns themselves make me wonder if this design didn't come later. The bead is also in exceptional shape except for a few small chips at the ends. A lovely mystery.
Trade beads almost always have holes big enough for 2mm leather cords
Millefiori, the Italian name for these colorful beads, means 1000 flowers
The beads are decorated with slices of glass canes created either, by bundling super thin glass rods together to form the pattern then fusing them, or encasing round or star pattern canes in concentric layers of different colored glass.
The canes are sliced into murrini, which are laid out on a hot surface as the semi-molten glass cores of the beads are rolled over them, picking up the slices.
Made in Venice, Italy for the African trade mid-1800s to early 1900s
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