| Original Message: "Square Cuts" |
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As Margot said in her initial post, ‘square cuts’ (traditional name – they are not cut, this is a colloquial name) were made for English lacemakers by English ‘lapidaries’ (some of who were also from bobbin-making families) from the late 18th and through the 19th century. They are wound beads squashed into a square shape between files which impart the textured effect on their sides. They used mainly transparent clear glass, and various shades or dilutions of ruby glass (which turn up as very light swirled pinks through to deep ruby reds). They almost certainly used scrap glass from the West Midlands glassmaking industry trade – hence clear and ruby red are dominant in the earlier period and become somewhat ‘traditional’. This image shows various of the red/pink and clear ones, but the middle spangle shows some rarer colours - cobalt, amber, purple and green, and the opaque blue on the strand is also a variant. The bottom bead on the small early spangle to the right is also rare - a decorated square cut (like a 'squiggle' bead made into a square cut). Carole All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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