Tribalgh
Rare Ghost Venetian Lampwork Bead – Antique African Trade Glass
Rare Ghost Venetian Lampwork Bead – Antique African Trade Glass
Rare Antique Ghost Venetian Lampwork Glass Trade Bead
This beautiful and rare Ghost black Fancy Venetian trade bead is an exceptional example of 19th-century wound glass artistry from Venice, Italy. Adorned with distinctive trail decoration, this bead is featured in Picard Volume V, p.39, bead 1286, underlining its documented authenticity and importance.
Produced using the lampwork technique in the late 1800s to early 1900s, this bead was crafted for use in the African trade. Known as a "Ghost" bead for its dark elegance, this piece carries the historical weight and artistic mastery of the Venetian glassmakers.
- Size: 13 mm in length
- Diameter: 14 mm
- Condition: Very good – beveled edges, no major damage (see photos)
These antique glass trade beads were handcrafted using the traditional lampwork technique, also known as wound glass. Artisans in Venice used a torch to melt glass canes, skillfully winding the molten glass around a metal rod to form each unique bead. Intricate trail decorations, like those seen on this Ghost bead, were added while the glass remained hot and malleable—demonstrating a high level of craftsmanship.
Venetian lampwork beads played a vital role in the trans-Saharan and West African trade networks. Brought to Ghana and other parts of Africa, these beads became valuable currency and symbolic adornments. They hold deep cultural significance, often passed down through generations, and today remain highly collectible as tangible links to a global history of trade and artistic exchange.
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