Ancient Glass Bead Help

I have an old looking glass bead necklace and would like some help identifying it, as far as I guess it might be Roman the glass bead that is broken has a lot of faces on it and the other larger beads are similar in colour havent been able to find anything similar wondered if anyone recognised the beads.

 

None of the beads is an antiquity, if that's what you mean. The large millefiori beads could be vintage & Italian; that's as close as it comes to ancient Roman glass. Looks like a home-strung job & not a very sophisticated one. I see some orange beads that might possibly be coral, but can't tell from photo.

 

Hi it was restrung they came in a large collection of beads and were just put together before I got them.The red beads are clay the rest are all yellow and blue glass .The larger ones are interesting its a pity one is broken in half but not a part of this necklace and wondered where they were made.

 

I have seen contemporary bead and marbles makers do that style.

 

Funny that , they came from a collection that hasnt been seen in over 30 years as I personally knew the collector who was a good friend.Curious as to why every time I post, someone always thinks its fake or reproduction or modern.Then again if I dont know what im talking about I usually leave it to someone who does.

 

There is a difference between ancient and antique. Ancient generally means many hundreds or thousands of years old. Technically, antique is 100+. I think that's what Bronwen was trying to explain.

Most of the members here have been dealing in antiques for most of their lives. I'm 71 and started helping my parents with their store when I was 8 years old. I'm no expert, but I do have an idea about some things. There are some real expert collectors and sellers here and we usually respect each others opinions. That's what you are looking for when you post - the opinions of people who have more experience with an item. I am never offended when I ask and am told that my item isn't what I hoped it would be.

30 years ago was 1990. Maybe you are young enough to think that's a long time, but that isn't considered an antique. Keep in mind that in many countries like India and Africa things are still made the traditional way and it's often hard to tell how old something is based on photos alone. If you are still concerned that your item has been misidentified, you need to take it to a brick and mortar store and have it appraised. That may be hard due to the coronavirus shelter in place, but eventually it will be lifted.

 

The style looks more African imho. African beads are related to Italian beads in that they were copied and/or imported.

 

I agree.

 

Do a search for images of Ancient Roman glass beads, and compare to yours. Do the styles, quality, colors, and patina look similar?

 

Only bother to read this if your contention is that some or all of the beads date to c. Imperial Roman era.

Hope we're just quibbling over language. I inhabit a world in which 'modern' is applied to anything that dates post-Renaissance. Because of my interests, I see a fair bit of Roman glass & own a little. The title says 'ancient', so my expectations were for something quite different. These beads all look like they could have been made in my lifetime. I'm vintage, not yet antique. There's nothing fake about the beads. They are what they are & do not pretend to be anything else.

There's a big jump between old looking & ancient. You're correct that the large beads have a resemblance to some Roman glass. This very short article explains that there was a concerted effort to rediscover the technique:

https://www.glassofvenice.com/millefiori.php

And this is a museum-certified example of what Roman millefiori work looks like:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/249733



An excellent suggestion:

But also do a search for millefiori beads on the market today so you can compare both.

It's possible they were once used as trade beads, as proposed above.

They were imported from Italy, not made in Africa, to the best of my knowledge. I used to spend a lot of time in a bead shop operated by someone who also had a gallery for ethnographic art. Picked up some knowledge from him about the trade beads he had among his wares. I remember many long heavy strands of stripy cane glass; can't recall any millefiori beads. My recollections do not count as evidence of anything.

Conclusion of all this prolixity: I think 'vintage' definitely applies; 'antique' possibly applies; 'ancient' definitely does not apply.

There is one bead that looks as if it has been kicking around for a while:




I don't think we can assume all beads on the strand are the same age. They're a disparate bunch.

 

Hi thanks for looking they were part of a collection mixed up I assume have a loose one like above and a blue eye bead could be Roman .Also have clay and stone necklaces but making my way through them to see what they are.

 

Have a big mixture of beads here’s another example of some interesting ones.My friend had these put away for around 30 years doesn’t make them any older but they have been out of a box in that time.

 

Example of some glass beads with a gold nugget.

 

Does your friend remember how/where acquired? Antiquities are such a minefield. Look how long the Met Museum had the Egyptian cat with a gold earring as their icon before discovering it's a fake.

One of the arguments for the authenticity of the several Roman glass intaglios I have is that to fake them would involve too much work for too little profit when there were lots of genuine pieces on the market at the time when they were set.

But reproductions, looking appropriately ancient, have been big business for a very long time, some of them made using molds taken from genuine pieces. Even experts, when they only have pix to go by, frequently (in my experience, more often than not) shake their heads & say they cannot tell.

The bead shape is distinctive.* Have you noodled around in Roman clay beads to look for the shape?

For the batch you just posted, you might want to look at 'white heart beads', if they really are white inside.

*Try 'bicone' for the shape.

 

Sadly my friend passed before the corona virus struck which was lucky as I was with him.The items he bought a while ago then moved to Australia they were in storage .Sothebys, Chartwell House and Simmons and Simmons of London is where the paperwork said a lot of the items came from.They look to have a bit of age have found the Ojime beads that came with them and am working through turquoise pieces to identify.

 

Someone selling similar blue eye bead on auction for 250 dollars described as Roman and very similar to mine in photo what you can see of it.

 

Thanks for all the input its much appreciated I have a mixture of glass and clay beads trying to discover anything about them.

 

This casts a different light on things. So, for a time at least, your friend (you must miss him deeply) was buying collectors' beads. Great that you have some provenance (although the Simmons and Simmons of London that pops up first is an international law firm?) I have known people who were passionate about beads in general & collected all kinds & ages. I have known collectors of trade beads in particular. And of course there are collectors of antiquities. The beads you have shared look like a mix of trade & possible Roman, etc. Are the beads on that last strand clay? Think that may rule out Roman but they weren't the only people making beads. Are there more beads to come?

 

Yes those beads are clay , I have other clay bead necklaces and to be honest it’s all guesswork on my part and was looking help to identify what I have exactly.

 

And thanks for all the replies.