Aja (Striped Discs), Antique Venetian Mixed Colors 10-14mm
SKU: AFT-42
Sale price
$149.00
Shipping calculated at checkout
Only 1 in stock
Description
- Antique Venetian drawn bead slices called Aja, 1-2mm thick by 10-14mm diameter. Three of my favorite colors all on one strand: Brick with yellow, Black w/ white and red, and blue with white and red. There's something here to go with most Venetian trade beads and they're the perfect size too.
- Only one 22-inch strand. I bought these in the early 1990s as part of a Philadelphia collector's estate
- Made in Venice, Italy, most likely early 1900s
- To make these beads, striped glass canes are drawn out to great length while still soft. Once they've cooled they are sliced into sections just 1-2mm long, and these are heated until the edges are nicely rounded and smooth.
- Collectors value these, and as a designer I like them too. I "frame" focal beads like amber, large brass beads and glass trade beads, with multiple slices and thin rondells of various sizes. Aja beads take those "frames" to a whole new level, adding interest by picking up colors in the focals, often made of the same glass.