****** SHIPPING CAN BE COMBINED   -- ****** --SEE BELOW FOR FULL INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING.        -----     INTERNATIONAL BUYERS PLEASE NOTE THE AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR HAS FALL AGAINST THE US DOLLAR SO AN INSTANT DISCOUNT FOR YOU.   $1.00 AUST. = .72 CENTS US.   …  OR .54 PENCE UK.   . 

 EXCELLENT PRELOVED VINTAGE CONDITION, MINOR WEAR IN LINE WITH ITS AGE.  ONE BEAD HAS AN AIR BUBBLE HOLE FROM MANUFACTURING NOT DAMAGE.  SEE LAST PHOTO.

  .  SHIPPING CAN BE COMBINED.   .....    

** … FOR DETAILED INFORMATION  ON THE BEADS SEE BELOW.

THIS IS A  LONG LENGTH  "WEDDING CAKE"  VENETIAN GLASS NECKLACE, COLOUR BLUE,  WITH PINK ROSES.  FABULOUS.     -------------   THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 18 WEDDING CAKE BEADS.

   IT IS 57cm    (approx. 22.5inches)  LONG.  PLUS DROP.   HAND MADE BEADS, JUST GORGEOUS. .     PURCHASED IN THE UK AT AN ANTIQUE FAIR.                        --------      

 VERY WELL MADE WITH EXCELLENT WORKMANSHIP.   BEADS ARE JUST GORGEOUS. EXCELLENT PRELOVED CONDITION  --  COMES IN A PRESENTATION BOX        HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.   ...   INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT IS VIA PAYPAL. SHIPPING BY AIRMAIL REGISTERED $29.75Aust. to the US,   $29.75 AUST TO UK OR EUROPE.    PAYMENT WITHIN AUST. IS VIA DIRECT DEBIT  OR PAYPAL   SHIPPING CAN BE COMBINED.HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE ASK BEFORE YOU BID AS I ONLY REFUND IF NOT AS DESCRIBED AND NOT FOR BUYERS REMORSE.  I DO NOT REFUND POSTAGE.  SHIPPING CAN BE COMBINED. PLEASE READ DESCRIPTION FOR ALL POSTAGE DETAILS AND COST. THANK YOU PLEASE NOTE I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR IMPORT DUTY IF APPLICABLE.  PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR LOCAL POST OFFICE TO SEE IF ANY COST IS PAYABLE. 

*** "I’m not sure when and where and by whom Venetian fiorato beads began to be called “wedding cake beads”, but that seems to be the popular and accepted  trade term in English, and it’s an apt description for these fancy glass beads, with their “icing” of frills and flowers.  But one possibility is that the early 19th century Beidermeier  influence on European design, at a time when these beads were emerging in fashion, is why these beads carry an association with weddings.  Beidermeier bouquets, still carried by brides today, nicely correspond to the bead design in their use of concentric rows of different colored flowers." "Fiorato beads get their start on a copper wire, which forms the hole when finished, by winding the hot colored glass around it into a fairly good sized ball.  The centuries old process is called in Italian perle `a lume–we call it lampwork or lampwound.  For fiorato, the opaque bead is then decorated according to a theme involving glitter, squiggles and rosebuds.  There are as many variations, apparently, as there are bead-makers, or moods of bead-makers, but the basic idea is the same.  First, the dazzling glitter effect is applied.  The glitter is actually a specific type of glass known as avventurina or aventurine (not to be confused with the natural quartz of similar name), derived from  the Italian word a ventura, “by chance”.   This transparent glass infused with copper filings causes an eye-catching gold-like glint when overlaid onto the surface of a bead, and it is characteristic of many exquisite Venetian  beads.  (Apocryphally, aventurine glass was discovered accidentally in a Murano workshop in the 1600s, and for many years was a closely guarded secret.) The next decoration applied are the various squiggles, known as a “trailing pattern”, which are narrow strands of glass “trailed” in loops or zigzags around the bead.  The more there are, the more likely it is the beads are old, as this adds significant time to the manufacture.  Finally, more or less carefully, the floral details are applied:  the rosebuds usually in pink, and the forget-me-nots in dots of blue and white with a yellow center. This style of flowered bead  (in a somewhat simpler form) is thought to have made its first appearance in the late 1700s, perhaps in response to the wide European interest in the “language of flowers”, a coquettish code of floral symbolism .   The very earliest substantiated date is 1815.  By the end of the 19th century, versions were being made in Bohemia as well. There is also a variation calleddogaressa. In this case, the glitter of the aventurine glass  is replaced by a layer of gold foil applied directly to the surface.  The decoration on these beads is softer, both in effect and in durability. It isn’t surprising that other bead-making traditions have imitated the beautiful Italian fiorato.  One of the ways to identify a true Venetian bead from its imitators is to observe the area around the hole. In Italian beads, a lampworked bead is made one at a time, and when finished, the copper wire that holds it while it is being formed is dissolved in nitric acid, leaving the hole open for stringing.  If a white residue around the hole is observed, this is an indication of a different method of manufacture, whereby several beads are made at once on a steel rod.  The white residue is the remains of a releasing agent used to free the beads from the rod.  It is not uncommon to see beads made in this fashion sell for 1/100th of the price of a single Venetian bead."