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Glass Beads Hand Painted on the Inside
Sandra Paluzzi
I am always blown away by the thought of someone painting a bead on the
inside. Yet, that is exactly what the Chinese do.
I wasn't able to find much on the history of these beads. They seem
to date from the Qing dynasty, the last Chinese dynasty. The first
record I could find of inside painting on glass was in 1820. At that
time, artists painted whole scenes along with calligraphy on the inside of
snuff bottles. I wasn't able to ascertain when the painting spread to
beads, but it probably took awhile because snuff bottles were much more
widely used in China than were beads. The process is
amazing. First the inside of the bead is etched or sanded to prepare
it for painting. Then a bent handled paint brush is used for the
actual painting. Sometimes the brush only has 1 bristle on it.
Other times, the brush is replaced with a bamboo stick. The truly
amazing thing to me is that the picture is painted in reverse. I
simply cannot fathom the skill and patience needed to produce these beads.
This craft is still being produced in China today. Often the beads
are a sideline in a company whose main product is snuff bottles.
But there are artists/factories that do nothing but paint glass beads.
I even found one interesting Chinese manufacturer who offered to reproduce
customers' photos in the glass. For the amount
of time and skill required, these beads are very inexpensive. Simple,
round beads can be had for under 1.00 a piece. Large, ornate focal
beads can be bought for under 10.00. I have no idea what
the custom painted beads cost. |
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