Dear Jamey, your point of view is interesting, and I reflected about it. The reasons for which I think they're beads to be copied in Venice are the following: 1) they were too coarse for the European market: the Venetian production for the western market and the one for the "rest of the world" differed significantly according to a better care in making beads and in an accurate polishing for beads for the western market. 2)Venice itself at those times sold beads mainly through foreign companies and, as far as I know (I'm not an authority of course) Venetian beadmakers were interested to sell their own products, and shops in Venice sold at least European made beads, expecially Czech. To me it not yet clear how many connections there were in the 20's and '30s between Bohemian and Venetian glassmakers, glasscutters etc., but I find difficult to think to an "ante litteram" ethnic bead commerce which came much later than the '30s, and in Venice developed just a little, but not significantly, in last years. It's true that from the '80s Indian beads were to be found in Venice: in 1985 I was so ignorant to buy as an old Venetian millefiori an Indian made necklace just near San Marco Square. But this kind of commerce, like as new Chinese chevrons sold as old Venetian chevrons, is typical of the new touristic waves from the '80s. 3)Venetian beadmakers wanted to sell their own mass productions: labour cost was very low, and this signify a lot in hand made production; they could compete with local production in Ghana owing to the typically mass production-oriented
bead industry.
I would highly appreciate your opinion about this.

Giorgio