The art of making glass beads involves specific knowledge and shared skills about the material (glass) and the element (fire). Beads are classified by the method in which they were made – wound, drawn, or molded beads.
Millefiori beads, for example, are composites of drawn glass canes applied to a wound glass core. It involves traditional tools and processes and includes multiple steps. Technical knowledge related to the production of glass beads takes two forms in Italy. 1) lume beads (with a blowtorch) and 2) da canna beads, which are made in sections, by softening and polishing hollow canes.
In France, solid beads are made by torching hot glass and then rounding it with gravity, and hollow beads are made either by blowing into a hollow cane or by making them on a mandrel, or in the hot glass. A more complex production of murine is made when multicolored glass canes are assembled around a core. They are then decorated and used in a variety of different ways.
The oldest known beads date over 3,000 years old, dating back to Roman times. In archaeology, the earliest glass-like beads are Egyptian faience beads, which are clay beads with a vitreous coating. These beads are significant because the presence of glass beads indicates that this technology was spreading. Additionally, the composition of the glass beads can be analyzed to help archaeologists understand the source of the beads.
The practice of glass beads is mostly transmitted informally in workshops, where apprentices acquire knowledge and experience by watching, experimenting, and practicing under the supervision of experts. It is also taught through formal education in technical establishments.
Gifts made with glass beads are used to mark specific events and social occasions, promoting social cohesion and dexterity in manual and craftwork. Collective identities based on shared memories and spaces are recognized by bearers and practitioners.
This ancient practice is a living heritage that communities, in response to the environment and interaction with nature and history, continuously recreates. Glass bead making is a beautiful reminder of the duty to protect man's creativity and ingenuity, and is linked inextricably to their extreme fragility. However, only by protecting this art can it be passed on to future generations.