Moments in the past, particularly those, which effect all senses are easy to recall. I visualize a screen door closing out a warm west Michigan summer day sometime in the early 1970's. (Editors note: Blessed are those who can remember the early 70's) Wisps of incense smoke drifts past my face as the sound of wind chimes tantalize my ears. My best friend and I shuffle through our favorite "what-not" shop. There are colorful sand-cast candles, ceramic mushrooms, and striped ponchos. However, what strikes my eye, that day, is a tray of miscellaneous beads. With much curiosity, I pick up what I think is a "psychedelic" cylindrical bead. I purchase that bead along with some others. The store proprietor helps me string them on a leather thong. I treasure that choker through the seventies. Sadly, it was eventually discarded with my bellbottoms. What I never knew about that bead was its history as a Venetian millefiori made for the West African trade. Many years have passed and I have collected millefiori beads of varied ages and designs. They are still as magical to me as that single bead in my 1970's encounter.

The following essay explains the evolution and reveals the mystery of the construction of the millefiori bead.

Most bead collectors know that the term millefiori originates from the Italian words "mille", thousand, and "fiori" flower. This locution was not utilized until the 19th century, though this type of bead had been made many centuries prior. (Hollister) Millefiori actually refers to the pattern of the bead's surface that is an end result of a complicated bead making process.

The components of a millefiori bead are murrine (millefiori slices) and a wound glass core, usually of a solid color. The murrine are created with glass rods, or canes, of various colors that are bundled into patterns and fused with heat. They are then reheated, drawn while hot, and sliced. The murrine slices are carefully marvered or pressed onto the molten core of a lampworked bead and fused again. It is important to become familiarized with the terms: murrine, canes, rods, drawing, fusing, etc. to comprehend further discussions on the formation of millefiori beads.

A precursor to the development of the murrine cane was the glass rod itself. There is evidence that glass rods were made in Thebes as far back as the 18th Dynasty in 1570 BC. (Hollister). Some scholars postulate that these rods were perhaps made prior to that period in both the cane and block form. Blocks of glass were sold by weight to merchants and exported. (Hollister) Logic tells me that as the ancient glass workers became more and more comfortable with materials more creative applications of the glass evolved. Archeologists have found samples of very simple color combination millefiori beads from the 18th Dynasty. (Hollister)

Fusing of the glass rods into murrine canes became more and more complicated as years passed. We enter the Alexandrian and Roman periods (300 BC - 100 AD) where the art of murrine design and millefiori beadmaking reaches great heights. The level of skill possessed by beadmakers of these periods was quite incredible and held in high regard by the populous. In fact, Alexandrian merchants even erected a statue to honor the mosaic glass artist, Proculus of Perinthus. (Hollister) The Romans did not refer to the beads or canes as millefiori. They dubbed them "murrina cocta" or "vitrium murrinium". (Jargstorf) According to Jargstorf, 18th century archeologists were stumped by Roman references to millefiori as being naturally occurring substances. In 1818, Heinrich von Minutoli concluded that the above allusions referred to mosaic glass in which little chips were assembled into patterns before fusing. (Jargstorf) Even though Roman text consistently refers to the patterns on millefiori beads as mosaic, it is unlikely that the little images were set into the beads one section at a time. This would be a painstaking process since fusing techniques already existed.

The process by which the Alexandrian and Romans made murrine canes begins with hundreds of delicate needle thin glass rods. They were bundled together in bunches that showed cross sections of flowers, faces, and other graphic designs. The bundles were heated and fused into 2-inch by 1-inch long blocks. These blocks were re-heated and drawn into quarter inch diameter canes. (Life on a String) The detail from the original canes remained intact. The drawn canes were sliced and applied to a 1 inch wound bead by re-fusing.

One of the most spectacular Alexandrian "mosaic" beads is shown by Dubin (Page 61) and shows eighteen plaques (slices) featuring four different designs. Each plaque is formed with 18 - 25 separate rods resulting in 350 separate components forming the bead. (Dubin)

According to Hollister, mosaic bead colors of the ancient colors of the ancient era were generally the primaries plus green-black and white. They were generally opaque.

Some common millefiori patterns were the: 1) whorl 2) star 3) single rod seen obliquely & in profusion 4) lozenge 5) perpendicular sliced cane bundles 6) reticule stripes. As the ancient design techniques improved naturalistic patterns such as insects, faces, and plants emerged.

My research shows a lull in the production of a millefiori beads between 300 AD and the 15th century. There is evidence of some mosaic beadwork in the Rhineland around 500 - 600 AD. In addition, they were briefly in production around the Mediterranean about 900 AD. (Jargstorf - GBFE) During the Italian Renaissance (15th century) a St. Marks librarian, know as Mark Antonio Sabellico refers to "mosaic" glasswork. He discussed the uses of this type of glass in his treatise"De Situ Urbis Venetae", 1495. (Hollister) Further reference to mosaic glass is revealed in the 16th century. Schmidt's, Das Glas illustrates millefiori vessels from 1500. (Hollister) In spite of scattered literary allusions most scholars feel that the true re-emergence of the art does not occur " en masse " until the late 18th century. Most museum pieces date from the 17th and 18th centuries. There are few examples of true Renaissance millefiori glass.

The word "millefiori" did not appear in the Oxford Dictionary until 1849. Apshey Pellatt is the first to use the word in his book Curiosities of Glass Making, 1849. (Hollister) Prior to this it was know as mosaic.

Until the 1850's there was little interest by the general public in millefiori beads. Muranese glassmakers, however, were fascinated and challenged by the process. There was an explosion of creativity among the glassmakers of the mid-18th century. European tourist ignored most of the more inventive beads and vessels and favored "ancient fakes" and the flower like patterns. Fascination with ancient civilizations in literature, travel, and parlor conversation was quite trendy during this period.

One of the most innovative Muranese glassmakers from 1800 - 1850 was Domenico Bussolin. He has been credited with making the "perfect" millefiori bead in 1836. Bussolin opened his own factory in 1838 and made millefiori and filigree canes, as well as, glass intarsia pieces. He was known to provide the highest quality work. His millefiori canes were much more complex then his predecessors. He is credited with creating new techniques. They contain elements shaped with molds such as trefoils, other three lobed rods and a pattern know as "arrows" or anchors. (Jargstorf)

Jacapo Franchini and Suigi Moretti (1867-1946) were noted glass workers from the late 19th century. Most collectors concede the cane work of these beadmakers was the best there ever was. Both men were known for their portrait, insect, botanical, and other whimsical cane themes. Jacopo is known for his fine shading in portrait flesh. (Jargstorf)

Creating these canes took super human effort and concentration. Based on photos of these men's work in various texts, to this day, there has been no cane work of their excellence.

From 1800 to 1950, Venetian glass workers made millefiori beads for the "African trade". These beads were traded for slaves, gold, precious stones, etc. The coast of West Africa, from the Ivory Coast to Nigeria, absorbed nearly the whole production of millefiori. (Picard) The prevailing theory is that theses "trade millefiori" were originally used as ship's ballast on crafts bound for Africa. Picard states that "this theory makes sense in terms of the amount found in the local". The natives loved the beads. They were much less expensive then the coveted chevrons and other fancy varieties. (Picard)

In West Africa, millefiori beads are known by the Ashanti term as "chachasao" (Picard). Most millefiori beads made for the African trade were cylindrical in shape. Some were oval and tabular but these were rare. In the 1920's - 30's some unusual teardrops, bi-cones, and squares were made. (Liu) These are hard to find as well. These millefiori beads had a matte finish unlike those created for the European tourist trade of the 19th and early 20th century. These beads really did not come in to vogue in AAmerica until the early 1970's, when they were extensively imported. (Picard) Perhaps this was due to the popularity of beads, in general, among the youth of the explosive 60's and 70's.

The colors used in African trade millefiori beads and the European market of this era were much more diverse then those made after the 1950's. The Picards found a cache of seed beads from the pre-1950 period and the color variations numbered from 1 - 409, with 40 shades of green alone! It is likely that modern beadmakers color palettes are more limited because of available material, technology, hazards, and economics. (Picard)

The 19th century millefiori beadmaking process was essentially the same as the previously described ancient one. The major differences lie in the fact that they were privileged with better tools and more efficient heating methods. Certainly, they were more creative with the cane patterns. Like the ancients the bead makers of the 18th and 19th century made picture canes by bundling and fusing. The newest techniques among glass workers of this era included laying hot strips of glass on top of each other. The glass was coated with different colors to make bulls eye effects or the layers could be molded like chevrons or combinations there of. (Francis)

In 1917 drawing the glass became mechanized with the invention of the bead drawing machine. This was invented by Edward Danner of the Libbey Glass Co. (Francis)

Murano glass factories still make millefiori beads. The Venetians have not changed their techniques much since the 1800's. Most companies still use their original 1917 drawing machines. My personal favorite beads were made in the modern era between 1900 and 1950. The 1920's through 1940's millefiori beads were influenced by the Art Deco designs of the period. Reds, blacks, and strong contrasting colors for the canes were used. Additionally, many different shapes such as discs, rectangles, etc were popular. These beads were made more for the European and American markets. They had polished finishes.

Moretti is the most well known factory today. They produce murrine cane that is sold both in rods and pre-sliced packages. Most of the contemporary patterns are the traditional floral type. (Picard) In recent years I have seen several pictorial canes in bead mail order catalogues.

The June 1997 Bead and Button magazine featured an article about a modern America beadmaker. James Jones after graduating from Portland State, 1983, started out as a sculptor. An interest in bead making lead him to Raku bead making. In 1985 he started experimenting with glass which lead to the opening of Bullfrog Beads in 1990. Inspired by Japanese bead master Kyuyo Asao he developed his trademark "hole cape" canes. His complex "holed" cane murrine slices are slide on either end of a mandrel around a wound lampwork bead and fused. (Korach)

Polymer clays are a great way to experience the cane making process in lieu of developing glass beadmaking expertise. Materials are readily available, including various pre-formed pattern canes for those who want to try these make and bake beads.

The history of the millefiori bead stretches back for thousands of years. It is fascinating that aside from the technological advances the construction methods have remained essentially the same. I hope the "children" of the 60's and 70's still treasuring their "African trade - hippie beads" are enlightened to their unique history and construction. I look forward to reporting on innovated techniques and designs in this period of modern renaissance of beadmaking we live in.