Videos of Turkish Beadmakers

These two videos were posted to the blog of Lady Isibel inghean ui Bheollain (of the Middle Kingdom). I had not come across these videos before, so I was excited when I saw her post them. One of the authors I've read who talks about evidence fr bead making at the Scandinavian marketplace of Ribe (Torben Sode) also wrote articles talking about what can be learned for modern bead makers who practice more traditional bead making techniques. One of the countries he studied, was, I believe, Turkey. Links to the videos and some notes I took are below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao7h3Z2W7Yc
-mentions using Pine as a wood source. This reminds me to investigate the BTU's of various woods (which several people discussed with me at Artifacts of a Life). Where does pine fit in here.
-they use broken, recycled glass.
-the beadmakers are male in this video and the other. This  video showed teenage boys (reminding me that what we do for fun, others do to make a living), the other grown men. Were men more likely to be the bead makers in period? Something I read a while ago discussed how historically when crafts are commercialized, men do them, but when they based around or in the home, women do them.
-the video noted that this was taught and passed down through the generations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emSU2sYDMNs
-the audio in this one is not in English, but it has better visuals of the bead making than the other. A good place to start watching is 3:00.
---he preheats 2 metal rods, one straight, one hooked at the end
---he winds the glass onto the one rod by dipping in the pot of melted glass (can't actually see inside the furnace)
---uses the hooked end of the other to pick up small bit of glass and press it into the base bead
---marvels with a thicker and slightly flat rod.
---then hits the mandrel a few times outside the furnace to loosen and remove the bead (no bead release is used!)
-Also, something strange. At 1:45- there are beads in side in the side of the kiln. Why? Broken? Annealing?


Additional Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhqArDha1qE  -posted by Tinker to facebook on 5/18/2017

Drawn Glass Beads

After watching a live streaming demonstration from Corning where two glassblowers made drawn glass beads, I wanted to try to make a drawn glass bead myself on a smaller scale using a hollow mandrel I had as a blow pipe, just to see if I could do it. Below are two beads that I made. 

The first time I tried do do this, I blew to hard and shattered the bubble. Luckily, I got a feel for how hard to blow the bubble after I messed up the first time. I was able to get a small length of drawn glass, enough to make one or two beads from.  This worked as long as I did not pull the walls to thin. If the walls of the bead were too thin, I could not cut the bead using my glass nippers, because the glass would shatter. To properly finish the above beads, I would also need to file the ends ends flat. I'm not quite sure how some of this would be done in period, particularly how the beads were cut and polished in period, but, one book that I've seen before that talks about how drawn beads were made, which I could acquire use as a reference to learn more is Asia's Martime Bead Trade.

Because I'm working with such small amounts of glass, this method would never be efficient to make beads in any number, but, I have seen modern lampworkers make modern ornaments and pendants by blowing glass.

My first unsuccessful attempt to blow glass.

The successful creation of a bubble of blown glass. To create this bubble,
I wrapped glass around the end of my hollow mandrel in a way that is a bit similar to
making a hollow bead. I then added more glass to the outside before blowing.
Lesson Learned: do not coat the hollow mandrel in bead release.
The bead release cracked twice and I lost my bubble of glass.

The length of glass I drew out from a bubble of glass similar to the one pictured above.
I did this by attaching a punty to the other end of the bubble and pulling,
much like I do when making cane to decorate beads with.

Stamped Tokens for Marion & JP/Lylie

At Pennsic I learned (during a class taught by Mistress Tinker from the Mid.) how to stamp beads to make tokens. You can use modern leather stamps (which I did here), or make your own stamps using soapstone. This is a documentable thing. Tinker shared an article with the class. I have the citation at work, and will update this blog post shortly with the information.

Pictures of period examples can be found on the Corning Museum site under the technique filter "stamping" and object type "pendant". The items are labeled as being Roman, or being from the Eaststern Mediterranean/Syria. Dates range from 100-700 c.e., with many pendants falling in the middle of that time range. The pendants seem to be made from transparent glass, in colors such as very dark brown, yellow/brown, amber, and blue/green

The pictures stamped on the pendants vary. Some have one or more animals (such as a lion, tortoise, or birds). Some showed humans (full figures or just busts). Others had both human and animal figures. A few of the pendants featured identifiable Roman mythological figures, such as Medusa and the goddess Victory. However, other religious symbols were also present. A cross, a star and crescent, the chi-ro monogram, the symbol for alpha and omega, and a Greek inscription for "one god" could all be found on the pendants. Clearly, many of the images on these pendants had deep significance and meaning.

The tokens I made have symbolic meaning within the SCA, as I am using aspects of a person's or a groups heraldry.

My Tokens

Tokens for Marion 

 Tokens for JP& Lylie

Picture of the Individual Tokens for JP & Lylie

Gifts for their Excellencies Bhakail

On stepping down as baronial A&S champion I presented their Excellencies Bhakail with a few gifts as a token of my appreciation for being chosen their champion.

Above are 4 "Islamic" folded glass beads (in Bhakail colors) which I added to fibula I wire wrapped and sharpened myself. I like the folded bead design for these tokens, because I feel it looks like a flame, an item which is related to Bhakail's heraldry.

Above is a necklace I make for her Excellency. The chain is based on a Roman chain, the design for which I learned at Pennsic during a class (sadly can't find at the name of the instructor at the moment). Erica helped teach me how to do the actual wire wrapping. A link to a museum photo of a Roman wire wrapped chain can be found here. The glass beads were made by me, the small gold beads were store bought. The necklace is in Bhakail colors, with a Salamander focal bead.

Wine Charms

Wine glass and bottle charms made for the populace choice prize at Bhakail Yule. Red and Black are Bhakail colors. I think THIS was the video I used from YouTube to teach me how to make the charm itself. I totally bought the bottle of wine to match the tokens and Bhakail's colors.

Folded Beads

First attempts at folded crescent and bird shaped pendants from an article on Islamic beads by Robert K. Liu published in Ornament Magazine. This is something I did a while ago, but never got around to posting.

-At least one of these cracked after making, so with these beads I need to be sure to keep well heated in the torch

-I need to work on the bird. The shape i'm pulling the crescent into is not nearly as close as I'd like it to be. Perhaps folding the crescent off mandrel would help, making it easier to pull out of shape?

Another good source for information on folded beads in general is an article by Tom and Sage Holland

Artifacts of a Life

The purpose behind the Artifacts of a Life A&S competition was

Me at Artifacts of a Life

to create several A&S items that were all tied to a specific time period and context. I began planning for  this event as soon as it was announced. I knew I wanted to create an Anglo-Saxon glass bead necklace and connect the necklace to the person who would have worn it. While I was searching for an artifact to recreate, I came across a photograph, found on the Pintrest board of another SCA bead maker, of a necklace in a museum. Using the reference on the card, I ordered the archaeological report form my library, and started working on the necklace. I added two smaller bead strings from that archaeological report to my project, as multiple artifacts were required for the event.

Pintrest museum photo.

Below are some pictures of my display, and a link to my documentation can be  found here.


The event was great! Talking to the judges and the people who stopped by was great. Seeing some of my friend enter as well was great! And I liked that a bunch of us wore clothing connected to our entries. You can see me in my first attempt at Anglo-Saxon garb above. The main feedback I got from judges this time around was a suggestion about my display. Some pictures of the display are below. Basically, I think I want to have each string displayed singly, rather than on the board in imitation of the picture from the archaeological report. I want people to be able to pick up the beads strings. And I want to make the pictures of me wearing the strings larger so they are more evident and make more of an impact. This is something to work on before K&Q A&S in February.

photo of my display

photo of my display

I was privileged to take a very very close first prize in the "traditional" category. I was also honored with a token by the Baroness of BBM.

An account of the event can be found on the EK Gazette