A fabulous piece of African trade history! This chunky stretch bracelet is strung entirely with antique Venetian millefiori / murrine glass trade beads dating back to the late 19th century.

RARE FIND | ANTIQUE VENETIAN MILLEFIORI TRADE BEAD BRACELET.

A fabulous piece of African trade history! This chunky stretch bracelet is strung entirely with antique Venetian millefiori / murrine glass trade beads dating back to the late 19th century.

Handmade in Venice, these colourful glass beads were produced using the extraordinary millefiori (“a thousand flowers”) technique, where patterned glass canes were fused, sliced and worked into individual beads. Venetian beads became highly prized trade commodities and travelled extensively throughout Africa during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

These examples are particularly striking, dominated by a gorgeous kiwi-green ground scattered with white starburst/floral motifs and wonderfully vivid ribbons of red, yellow, blue and white. Being handmade, every bead has its own tiny variations and personality — no two are quite identical.

Now restrung as an easy-to-wear stretch bracelet, it gives these 100+ year-old beads a fabulous new life while preserving all that wonderful history.
Rare, colourful, collectible and completely unique — wearable history from Venice to Africa and back again. 

Measurements :The bracelet is stretch.Each bead measures approx 1.2cm in diameter.The bracelet with a weight of 54grams.