Featured Lampwork beads

Grabbed these beads a while back. They were sold with another necklace as both being ancient. The other has an undoubtedly very old crotal or similar bell and possibly very old stone beads. There were many items that did seem to be ancient or at least ancient fakes at the sale. This one was described additionally as being Roman. While they are beautiful and possibly inspired by ancient Roman beads they don’t look very old to me at all. Can anyone tell me something I don’t know about them? All I know is that they are Lampwork beads. I can’t imagine they are ancient based on how clean and intact they are?

 

I might have bought these because they are colors I like, but I would have assumed not ancient because a) there is so much out there being represented as ancient that isn't; b) as you point out, the condition is too uniformly undamaged; c)I think finding this many beads all essentially the same in this condition would have led to their being in a museum or on the market at a price too high to just casually pick up.

 

Not Roman, they didn't do sugar frit beads, which is what these are. Might be Czech, but I suspect made on Murano.

 

Thanks. Yeh I assumed they weren’t and hoped I was wrong!

 

Based on what saw in similar beads that was my guess as well.

Edit; I didn’t know they were called sugar frit. That’s very helpful!

 

You're very welcome. They're lovely beads.

 

Lovely and unusual. You wouldn’t have got me out of the shop without those!

 

Me either.