HISTORIC AND MODERN GLASS
Historic Glass
Wondering how to get started making beads of your own? Check out the glass beadmaking FAQ. The Viking Answer Lady has a great page on what types beads make up a Viking necklace.
If you are interested in taking up beadmaking, or trying your hand at the ancient art of mosaics, I now have articles up on Themestream, including some on glassworking (the "how to make a mosaic table" article is there, as well as an article on tools for beginning glassworkers), all under the name of Rise Sheridan-Peters. The diagram to accompany the mosaics article is here.
The
Kelsey Museum has a site with many pictures of glass objects dating back to between 200 and 650 A.D. These objects were excavated from a Roman site in Karanis, Egypt.
Another site with links to information on the history of making glass and glass objects has the evocative name "Cornucopia of Colors."
Have you made some beads, or bought some, and want to know how to make them into period jewelry? Check this out for pictures of necklaces using a wire-wrapping technique and for links to other resources on period beaded jewelry. And check out these pics of necklaces I made using my own hand-made beads and wirewrapping techniques (there are thumbnails of them down below, but they may take a while to load). (Wirewrapping is a good technique for making nice beads "stand out" in a composition . Here's a link to some beautiful wire work using glass beads.)
Here's a link to another necklace that I made.
Modern Glass
Modern lampworked beads take a wide variety of shapes. Here's a postcard of some beautiful ones, shared by my friend Conchobar, in Portland (these are the work of local lampworkers; the photo is from an exhibition postcard).
Sources and Materials
Many folks speak highly of
Arrow Springs as a source for lampworking equipment and supplies.
Here's a link to a web page listing many different suppliers for bead making and hot glass work in general.
