Indian Glass Bead Chunky Oval 18x12mm Millefiori Matt Turquoise

Indian Glass Kiln Beads offer a distinctive handmade aesthetic. These 10mm round millefiori (meaning "a thousand flowers" in Italian) beads are copies of the famous Venetian glass ones. The design reached significant technical and aesthetic heights in Venice, Italy, during the late 1800s and early 1900s. These distinctive, colourful patterns were handmade by artisans using labour-intensive glasswork techniques. While the manufacture of similar mosaic beads can be traced back to Ancient Roman, Phoenician, and Alexandrian times, the foundational ability to create glass itself originated over 5,000 years ago in Egypt and Mesopotamia.

The beads are made today using the same techniques perfected centuries ago, by bundling coloured glass rods, heating them, pulling them into thin canes, and then slicing cross-sections to reveal intricate floral or geometric motifs. The beads feature rich, solid background colours—such as brick red, cobalt blue, black, or white—which allow the vibrant surface flowers to stand out. Because each cane slice is applied by hand onto a core glass base, no two beads feature the exact same floral arrangement.

Indian glass beads often arrive with a dusty white or grey coating. This material is called "kiln wash" or "slip," which is used to help the bead release from the wire during production. You can easily remove it by rinsing the beads with tepid water or wiping them with a cloth.

Shape: Oval
Size: 18x12mm with large hole
Colour: matt turquoise