| Original Message: Chinese Glass Beads |
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The Chinese, essentially, manufactured plain furnace-wound glass beads from the Late Ming through the Qing Dynasties—and probably the greatest numbers were made late in that time, well into the 20th C. This spans about 400 years. Prior to that period, the Chinese did not value glass per se, and did not have conventional hot-working factories (with some exceptions, perhaps). Glass was mainly worked as though it were stone, via lapidary practices (being grinded, cut, polished, and drilled). Then, around the times of German and then Japanese occupations (in the region of Boshan), the situation changed radically, because cane and element drawing were introduced; and the approach of ornament-making via lampworking was established—making the mass manufacture of beads possible, and including impressive works such as hot-pinched overlay beads, millefiori meads, and several others. So your beads are probably late Qing, or even post-Qing, but are probably not from Boshan. They would be more like what are called "Canton" beads (formerly called "Peking glass" beads). I don't know how to date flower-money (though I own a specimen). Jamey All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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