Start at about 4:40 on the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9DkLF0vdSs
I have a really hard time distinguishing Czech, Venetian, and Indian examples of these beads. Maybe we should start a list of distinguishing characteristics, such as
color of glass
texture of glass (opal, satin, opaque)
mix of translucent/opaque pink of rosettes
pattern and neatness of the blue/white dots
...something to entertain the obsessive among us, LOL?
Nope these are Venetian and I would agree with 1950s-1960s. "Typicals" include the pink roses and the blue/white forget-me-nots with the yellow center dot. Indian made wedding cake beads have the white release in the holes and usually the blue/white/yellow applied glass looks more like small applied bubbles and they stand out from the bead at least .5-1mm. I am attaching a picture of Indian wedding cake beads currently being sold on the bay as being from Murano.
You will see from past posts that I am somewhat in disagreement with perhaps a fair number of collectors, as to what comprises a group of "wedding cake" beads. My opinion is that actual wedding cake beads derived from the late-19th/early-20th Cs—though there are later beads that have some characteristics in-common.
You can also see that the later editions have continued to be made at Venice, even recently.
Regarding Floor's assertion, I would want some proof that the card(s) held in the Czech Glass Museum are not Venetian. When I was there, I certainly saw cards I was (am) confident were (are) Venetian beads. JDA.
http://beadcollector.net/cgi-bin/anyboard.cgi?fvp=/openforum/&cmd=iYz&aK=68739&iZz=68739&gV=0&kQz=&aO=1&iWz=0
http://beadcollector.net/cgi-bin/anyboard.cgi?fvp=/openforum/&cmd=iYz&aK=68225&iZz=68225&gV=0&kQz=&aO=1&iWz=0
The ones on the sample card (and there is at least another similar card) from the Czech museum does not look Czech to me.
When I first posted it, I did think so, but not so sure anymore. The museum does label them as Czech.
It seems, and I have yet to look into that further, that the crossover between a Czech and a Venetian company has created some beads that were either sold by the Czechs, but made in Venice. Or, made by Venetians, working in Czech.
