64 Antique Banded Layered Glass Trade Beads – Heavily Weathered Hand-Worked Collection

Mukti-faceted collection of 64 old hand-worked banded and layered glass beads, offered together as a cohesive group. The beads display substantial variation in color, banding and surface character while sharing remarkably similar construction and age-related wear.

Close examination of the perforations reveals particularly interesting evidence of traditional manufacture. The bead holes are irregular rather than machine-perfect, with rounded and worn openings from prolonged handling and stringing. Visible within the perforations are distinct layers and strata of colored glass, along with accumulated whitish-gray and earthy deposits extending into the interior of the holes.

The surfaces exhibit extensive age-related character including abrasion, frosting, weathering, pitting and areas of crusting, while the interiors show similar deposits and wear. These characteristics give the group a very different appearance from newly manufactured decorative glass beads.

Individual examples display attractive banded and layered glass construction, with natural differences in shape, diameter, coloration, perforation and degree of weathering. Their consistency as a group makes the collection particularly appealing for serious bead collectors and students of historic glass-bead manufacture.

Quantity: 64 beads

Material: Layered/banded glass

Construction: Hand-worked glass with irregular perforations and visible internal glass layering

Condition: Antique/vintage condition with extensive surface wear, frosting, pitting, crusting, worn perforations and age-related deposits. These characteristics are considered part of the beads' historic character. Please examine photographs carefully.

The precise geographic/manufacturing origin has not been definitively established, so the beads are conservatively offered as antique banded/layered glass trade beads rather than assigning an unsupported specific Venetian, African or Asian attribution.

A substantial and visually impressive group, especially notable for the visible internal layering, heavily worn perforations and accumulated deposits within the bead holes.