It is a significant part of my analysis of the Boshan industry that the first glassworking there was instigated by occupant Germans. They may have introduced the idea of torchwork (or small furnace-work) using preformed elements, and the whole concept of trailing, cane-drawing, and mosaic-glass production—that resulted in millefiori beads. This would have been based on historical Venetian practices, that had already been transferred to other parts of Europe by the 19th C.

Of course, it's also possible that the Japanese, who took over, having learned hot-working in the Venetian style (no doubt instigated by the Dutch), may have impressed upon Chinese glassworkers that the preformed parts, cane-making, and mosaic-glasses, resulted in superior beads. When we view early Japanese beads, before they evolved into their local idiom, it is clear that some of their beads are attempts at copying Venetian beads—and were produced by their version of Venetian practices.