Rare Old Venetian Baule Face Bead – Black Fancy Lampwork
This exceptional antique glass bead is a rare "Baule Face" style Venetian wound glass bead, showcasing traditional trail decoration in black with fine detailing. Featured in Picard Volume III (Front Cover, strand 7), this bead is a remarkable example of 19th-century lampwork artistry, created for the African trade market. Highly collectible, its stylized facial motif and masterful construction make it a prized addition to any collection of antique African trade beads.
- Size: 16 mm x 14 mm x 13 mm
- Condition: Excellent – minor decorative wear and a few small air bubbles
Venetian lampwork beads, also known as wound glass beads, were meticulously crafted by skilled artisans in Venice, Italy during the late 1800s to early 1900s. These beads were made by winding molten glass around a metal rod and embellishing it with decorative trails and patterns, often using colored canes and powdered enamels.
Such beads were a central component of the African trade, particularly in regions like Ghana, where they were prized for their beauty, symbolism, and value in ceremonial, cultural, and economic exchanges. The Baule face bead style is especially significant, as it reflects a fusion of European glass artistry with African cultural appreciation, cementing its place in bead history.
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