21-inch strand of Gold Glass Beads in sizes ranging from 1-9mm with most in the 3-4mm range. There are a variety of shapes.
Gold glass beads are made by wrapping clear blown glass beads with gold leaf and covering it with another layer of clear glass, so the layer of gold foil is preserved between two layers of clear glass.
Most beads on this strand are in remarkably good condition with colors ranging from light and bright yellow gold to warmer tones and some dark amber hues.
Gold Glass beads, also known as Gold-in-Glass, Gold Foil, or Gold Sandwich beads evolved in Ancient Egypt and Rhodes (a Greek Island) during the 3rd century BC and continued to be made for about 1500 years, disappearing in the 13th century.
Most gold glass on the market has traditionally been attributed to Roman workshops between 300 BC to 400 AD, but new research has traced gold glass to another, earlier, center in China during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). But that's not the end of the story. The researchers who found the Chinese source of the beads believe they were first made in Bali, Indonesia!
That explains why gold glass beads could be found without too much difficulty in SE Asia, which is where I bought mine in the early 1990s. They cost less than the Roman versions in the western antique trade. Some traders were buying in Asia, thinking the beads were newer b/c they cost less, but selling them in Europe and US for more as Roman.
Now it seems that the Asian gold glass beads actually pre-date the Roman!
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