They have been popular for centuries and have attracted the eye of commoner and royalty alike.  A few notable people who have owned and treasured examples of this fine art were Marie Antoinette, Madame Pompadour, Napoleon’s Josephine, Princess Grace, Princess Caroline, Patricia Nixon and William Randolph Hearst.

The art of making flowers out of beads is many centuries old.  Although there is very little documentation on the development of this art, research has shown that the first primitive bead flowers may have been made as early as the 1300’s in Germany, when steel needles and wire were developed.

In the ensuing years as the craft spread across Europe, different methods were developed: the Victorian method, which is also known as the English or Russian method; and the French method.  The main difference is that in the Victorian method, which is similar to modern bead jewelry-making techniques, the thread or wire passes through each bead twice or more, and the wire passes from row to row on the sides of the piece; in the French method, the wire passes through each bead only once, and passes from row to row in the center or on the bottom of the individual piece.

One of the reasons that flowers are associated with churches has to do with beads.  In the thirteenth century a form of prayer using a string of beads was instituted by St. Dominic.  The string, called a rosary, consisted at that time of 15 units of beads.  Each unit contained 10 small beads, preceded by one larger one.  A prayer was recited at every bead.  The word “bede” is Middle English for “prayer.”  Because of the length of the original rosary, it became customary to pay someone, usually a resident of an almshouse, to recite the prayers.  These people were referred to as bede women or men, and it was they who made the first bead flowers.  The craft was handed down through the centuries and came to be associated with the church and its decorations.

 The French of a few centuries ago used bead flowers as funeral wreaths.  These wreaths were called “immortelles,” and ranged from 3 feet to 4 feet in height.  They often featured flowers made out of black or other dark-colored beads, to express the grief of the mourners.   The immortelles would be left at the grave of the deceased.  Wires strung with beads might have been coiled or braided as well before wrapping onto the piece.  The whole surface of the Immortelle would be wrapped over with wire strung with thousands and thousands of beads. 

Once an immortelle disintegrated due to exposure to the weather, leaving only a pile of beads, the beads would often be recycled into other projects.   A few examples of immortelles remain today.  Occasionally you will see one on Ebay.  You can easily find images of surviving immortelles on Google.

In Venice in the 16th century, middle class and poor women made bead flowers for churches, banquet tables and parade floats.  There are accounts that someone could walk down the streets of Venice and see women sitting outside every door, making ornaments out of wire and tiny glass beads.  At one time Venice was a center for the actual production of beads.  According to one source, at one point all the beadmaking activity in Venice was moved onto the island of Murano.  Murano glass vases and other items are still treasured today.

Around the Napoleonic era (1768-1821), Italian and French peasants who tended the vineyards in the summer were recruited to work with beads in the winter.  They would be assigned to embroider the ball gowns and jackets of the court nobility with beads.  Imperfect beads or beads that would not fit over the needle were saved and made into flowers.  These imperfect beads may have been strung onto wire for the flowers with horsehair or human hair.  These flowers were used to decorate church altars, and were carried by altar boys for Easter and Christmas.

In Victorian times, royal European brides often wore wreaths or circlets of bead flowers and carried bead bouquets on their wedding day.  The custom at the time was for the bride to abandon the fancy hairdo’s of the time, and wear her hair simply, straight down her back, and adorn her head with a floral wreath.  If she were getting married at a time of the year when fresh flowers were unavailable, bead flowers were an excellent solution.

In Venice in the 16th century, middle class and poor women made bead flowers for churches, banquet tables and parade floats.  There are accounts that someone could walk down the streets of Venice and see women sitting outside every door, making ornaments out of wire and tiny glass beads.  At one time Venice was a center for the actual production of beads.  According to one source, at one point all the beadmaking activity in Venice was moved onto the island of Murano.  Murano glass vases and other items are still treasured today.

Around the Napoleonic era (1768-1821), Italian and French peasants who tended the vineyards in the summer were recruited to work with beads in the winter.  They would be assigned to embroider the ball gowns and jackets of the court nobility with beads.  Imperfect beads or beads that would not fit over the needle were saved and made into flowers.  These imperfect beads may have been strung onto wire for the flowers with horsehair or human hair.  These flowers were used to decorate church altars, and were carried by altar boys for Easter and Christmas. 

In Victorian times, royal European brides often wore wreaths or circlets of bead flowers and carried bead bouquets on their wedding day.  The custom at the time was for the bride to abandon the fancy hairdo’s of the time, and wear her hair simply, straight down her back, and adorn her head with a floral wreath.  If she were getting married at a time of the year when fresh flowers were unavailable, bead flowers were an excellent solution.

The popularity of the craft continued both abroad and in the USA.  However, in the late 1960’s and early 70’s, most of the seed beads sold in America were imported from Czechoslovakia.  With the last phase of the Cold War, around the late 1980’s, Czech beads were difficult to get, and popularity for the craft diminished.

Then, the late 1990’s saw a dramatic interest in beaded flowers around the world.  Books were published in Japanese, French, Italian, Russian, German, and Dutch.  Although some of the styles “cross over,” most of these books use the Victorian technique.

With the start of the new millennium, the United States has shown a renewed interest in French beaded flowers.  Magazines are describing the art as “what’s hot” and new French-style pattern books are once again appearing. 

I have taken part in two projects which show the strength of the beaded flower community today.  In response to the 9/11 disaster, another member of a beaded flower internet group suggested, since one of the original uses for bead flowers was in funeral wreaths, it would be appropriate for our group to make memorial bead-flower wreaths for each of the 9/11 crash sites.  There was an overwhelming response from the group.

Hundreds of handmade, long-stemmed flowers and leaves were made and sent in from group members around the world, and were assembled into the breathtaking wreaths. These wreaths are now in the Pentagon, the Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, and New York.  The New York Wreath is permanently placed in a glass case in a boardroom of the WTC Museum Foundation Headquarters.  The Pentagon wreath is in a large, glass wall-mounted case in a new hallway that leads to a chapel commemorating those who died on 9/11.  Pictures of all these wreaths and a professionally-written brochure about the project are available on my website.

On another front,  when the Swarovski Crystal company was first making their line of crystal beads, they commissioned me and my beading friends to design and create the first Swarovski crystal bead flowers to showcase their beads.  We produced a group of flowers that delighted us and the Swarovski company as well.

This collection of flowers toured the world, and is now back at the main offices of the Swarovski Company in Austria.  It was a very exciting project, and we felt privileged to be a part of it.  Many of the patterns from that original project have now been collected into their own book by Dalene Kelly, which is available from Amazon.

Quality beads are now available from many sources.  The Internet is making the books and materials available to all beaders, regardless of their location.  Many of the books are available from Amazon, and wire, beads and other supplies can be found online at very reasonable prices all over the web.