Necklace with Imitation Coral Beads

Object Name: 
Necklace with Imitation Coral Beads

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Object Name: 
Necklace with Imitation Coral Beads
Place Made: 
Accession Number: 
73.3.166
Dimensions: 
Overall (closed) L: 23.1 cm; Center Bead L: 2.9 cm; Red Ovoid Beads L: 2.8 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
1900-1973
Web Description: 
As the Bohemian bead industry continued to grow, new types of beads were developed and the specific tastes of diverse cultures were studied. The Bohemians had begun to make glass beads in imitation of garnets, and they continued in this vein by creating replicas of many other precious materials, including agate, onyx, amber, carnelian, coral, and Venetian glass beads. The rapid production of many types of beads was achieved with the molding method. Mold designs even added small striations to beads imitating coral, in order to give the beads a more realistic appearance. Forms that were popular in certain cultures and regions throughout the world were also produced. This necklace displays a variety of imitative beads in glass. There are mottled red beads that simulate agate and carnelian, and a twisted shape that may be coral. The “capstan” or hourglass shape, exemplified by the two red beads, is an ancient form used for earspools. The rectangular beads with dots, originally white, resemble dice and date from the 20th century. The Bohemian bead industry was an excellent marketer of goods, and it capitalized on its ability to create quality imitations of materials and styles that were in high demand.
Provenance: 
Lamb, Alastair, Source
Category: 
Technique: 
Material: 
Primary Description: 
Necklace with Imitation Coral Beads. Various types of Czechoslovakian molded beads, including two beads as in 73.3.160; one long cylinder as in 73.3.171; imitation agates and carnelians of various shapes, but most as in 73.3.157; a number of small bright red "tear drop" shape pendants used as beads; a number of rectangular sections in red opaque glass marked as in dice; two beads of capstan-shape; barrel-shape molded bead of scattered colors.
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass 2013-05-18 through 2014-01-05
For 30,000 years, mankind has crafted beads from natural materials. With the discovery of glassmaking in the second millennium B.C., glass began to be used for this same purpose. Glass beads are universal. They have been produced throughout the 35 centuries of glass manufacturing, and by nearly every culture in the world. The glass beads and beaded objects on view in this exhibition are arranged thematically, comparing the manner in which diverse cultures have utilized beads, frequently for the same purposes, but sometimes for unique reasons. These themes explore how glass beads adorn the body and our possessions; how they convey messages about power and wealth, and identify the stages of human life; how they serve ritual purposes, as well as decorate clothing and objects used in rituals; and how they have been employed across the centuries as a means of exchange, both commercial and cultural. Through the centuries, beads have been made using a variety of processes. Understanding how beads were made has allowed scholars to follow the transmission of beads and beadmaking techniques across the globe. Across time and around the world, glass beads have become a common element of mankind. Through their manufacture and function, they are one of the strings that bind humanity together. “Life on a String” celebrates this common bond while also revealing the distinctiveness of different societies through their use of glass beads to celebrate their unique cultural heritage.
Glass Beads: Selections from The Corning Museum of Glass (2013) illustrated, pp. 54-55, no. 35; BIB# 134720