More Period Beadmaking Experiments

Two weekends ago I went to Ysmay & Mael Eoin's house to make beads in their back yard using the coal and firebrick fireplace I first experimented with in early may . I was going to try to do this myself, but luckily Astrid stopped by to watch and her help ended up being invaluable. Some notes from our experiments are below.

1. More than one person is needed. Two or preferably three people work best. While, since I have the air mattress blower, I don't need someone to constantly work the bellows for me there is still a lot going on when making beads (tools get lost and are needed, and sometimes you want to change up how much air is being blown into the kiln). An assistant is necessary.

2. Having three people available, one to help with situation awareness (and take pictures) is also important. As they do on occasion, a small piece of charcoal popped out of the fireplace. It landed about 5 feet away, beyond our field of vision, so we did not catch it as early as I would have liked, and some of the mowed  grass still on the lawn started burning. It was quickly put out, but it reinforced the need for more eyes and an increased attention to safety when doing these experiments.

3. Continuing on the issue of safety a few other thoughts include:
--making sure there is no dry/dead grass around the area we are working.
--wetting down the area around the furnace
--having a very large bucked of water available (in addition to the fire extinguisher).
--making sure the work area around the furnace is clean and not to cluttered with tools

4. 120 COE glass is amazing. We tested 104 COE glass and the fireplace  was hot enough to melt it, but the 120 COE Satake lead glass I purchased worked *SO* much better. A higher COE means the glass is softer and easier to manipulate. We had beautiful coils of glass form when we wound the glass onto our mandrels. At this point, I can very generally document leaded glass in period using articles from scholar Julian Henderson, who writes a lot about ancient glass. I'll have to look into this a bit more before writing up formal documentation to figure out how leaded glass is different from regular soda-lime glass, and exactly where and when this glass was found in period.

5. I made a melon bead (which I also did in 104 COE, but it was easier with the 120 COE glass), and new for this experiment, I tried and successfully made a dot bead! I suspect this would be more difficult in the open fireplace using 104 COE, but I'll have to try it some time to see. As I pulled away from the base bead when making my dot, the little tail of glass got cool quickly, so I had to try wrapping it around my glass rod, and keeping it close to the fire so the little tail of glass would flame cut itself. (I think i need to take video of this sometime!)

6. I also successfully melted some of the 120 COE glass in an iron crucible (mimicking the iron pan found at Ribe), picked the glass up with a spare mandrel (called a punty), and used that to make a wound bead. This is a method that archaeologists (see articles by Torben Sode) believe was used to make beads. Interestingly, the glass also picked up some iron from the surface of crucible (perhaps the crucible needs to be cleaned out better before use). This was interesting because it slightly changed the color of the glass, turning the yellow a bit green when compared with the original yello color of the glass. You can see this in the pictures of some of the beads we made at the end of this post. The left most yellow bead is the one that reacted with the iron in the crucible.

7. Regarding the Fireplace: Making it one firebrick high (and not two like last time) seemed to work well. It took less charcoal to fill (although we still went through almost one bag during the several hours we were working). I did not mortar the bricks together, which allowed us to remove a brick and sweep out the coals when they got too ashy, and then we could use a coal or two to quickly restart the fire. I think were were back up and running in 20 minutes or so. Next time I might mortar three sides together (leaving the one open for ash removal). It was steady enough un-mortared, especially since we double layered the fire bricks, but i'd feel a bit better with it more secure. The copper pipe should definitely be mortared in place, as the hole we drilled was a bit to large for it to fit securely and it kept moving.

8. There was some interesting things happening on the bottom of the fireplace near where the copper pipe was. More so than last time, perhaps because the fireplace was smaller? I'm not quite sure what is going on here, but this may be similar to some vitrification near the blow hole described in a formally published experimental archaeology article (by Sode or Gam, I forget who). However, this was not something seen at Ribe, so it may point to a different furnace design. I will want to read up on this a bit more, and try to figure out what exactly is going on here. They did have some burned and darkened clay found on the hearths at ribe, so maybe this is the same thing?? The picture below is of the bottom of the furnace during mid-day when we cleaned it out.

The end of the copper pipe also started melting by the end of the day! Again, I don't remember this happening last time.

All in all, I learned a LOT from this day of experimenting!

Notes about the aesthetics of Anglo-Saxon beads

The information below was collected as a result of feedback from this years K&Q's A&S competition. I'll continue to add information to this write up as I find it (I have a few more ILL books on the way), but I'm posting this now on my blog because I have some other research and documentation I need to work on at the moment. This was however, and interesting question to try to answer, and it took me in directions I did not expect to be going with my research, which was a good thing. I'll need to  figure out later how I can incorporate some of what I've written into my more formal A&S documentation. Please consider the following a rough draft, as some citation information still needs to be added or checked for accuracy.

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My recreation efforts have focused on the early Anglo-Saxon period, between the 5th-8th century (400-700).  The main reason for this early focus is that beads from this time period are the ones that are available to us to study. As Anglo-Saxon society converted to Christianity, people stopped being burred with grave goods, and it is from grave goods that most of our knowledge of glass beads arises. However, when I read about Anglo-Saxon art, glass beads are almost never discussed. When  historians look at early Anglo-Saxon (or Migration Period) art, it is the metalwork they give all their attention. Other studies dismiss early period art entirely, focusing on the art that was influenced by the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. According to one source "little of artistic interest survives from" the early Anglo-Saxon period,"and the art that is important and worth consideration are " stone buildings...crosses and the production of liturgical books, vessels, and vestments" (Oxford Art Online, "Anglo-Saxon Art). Where glass specifically is mentioned as an art form, the focus is on stained glass in churches during the later period. 

This leads to the question, why are beads not considered by art historians as being worth studying. Evidence from graves shows us that beads were significant and highly symbolic objects of adornment for women of all ranks. Perhaps the reason they are not given considerations by art historians is due to the simplistic (and sometimes rough) nature of their decoration. When compared to beads produced in the middle east during and after this time period, Anglo-Saxon beads are rather crude. Beads have also have a history of having been ignored by archeologists (Mannion; Brugmann) and only in the last several decades has a very serious study of them begun to take place.

Regardless of the reasons, glass beads can still be considered in light of broader aesthetic styles of the time period. However, because I have not found an academic who has made this connection for me, much of what I have to say here regarding glass beads will be my own thoughts in light of the academic research I have done.

To view pictures of Anglo-Saxon beads as you read, you can visit these two pages from my blog

Mucking Typology
Brugmann's Typology

To discuss early Anglo-Saxon artistic style it also helps to research the art of the Migration Period, the time from the 5th-8th century when the Germanic tribes overran and settled in areas once controlled by the declining Roman empire. Early Anglo-Saxon art is heavily influenced by the styles of the Germanic tribes who settled in England. While some Migration period art forms may have contained lingering Roman influences, several sources note that Anglo-Saxon art, including glass beads, do not seem to have been influenced much by the Romans at all (Guido 3-4, Owen-Crocker 7).

The Roman's preferred small shaped monochrome shaped beads in transparent blue and green (Brugmann 28-29). This style is nothing like the colorful and decorative Germanic style. According to one art historian, the "relationship between Saxons in England and the Saxons on the continent was never forgotten. There as a relationship of taste too...the tastes of Anglo-Saxon England were never markedly different from the tastes on the European Mainland" (Dodwell, 24). In fact, many Anglo-Saxon glass beads were imported form the continent or based off of continental designs (Brugmann).

Adornment was important to the semi-nomadic Germanic tribes, because these items were basically portable and very visible wealth (Dubin 73). As a result, much of the surviving artwork from the Migrationon period on the continent and in early Anglo-Saxon England consists of "decoration applied to portable equipment" that has been recovered as grave goods  (Oxford Art Online, "Migration Period"). One of the most "distinctive features" of Migration period art its range of color and surface patterning, seen mainly in jewelry" (Oxford Art Online, " Migration Period Art).  This stylistic preference was actual brought to Europe from more Eastern civilizations  (south Russian and Iranian traditions) by the Germanic tribes, which had been nomadic long before they overran the remains of the Roman Empire.

In general, early Migration period art consisted of "abstract geometric designs, together with simple human and animal figures of symbolic purpose" (Oxford Art Online, "Migration Period"). This style is perhaps best expressed in metalwork. Early Anglo-Saxon metalwork was"dominated by highly stylized animal and human figures from the Germanic Tradition" and sources note that the animals likely held symbolic or spiritual significance for the wearers (Oxford Art Online, "Anglo-Saxon Art)  As a result, one would think that these human and animal figures would also be found on beads, however, there is likely a practical reason that they are not. While it is relatively easy to add geometric designs to beads in the form of dots, lines, waves,  zig-zags  to make patterns on glass beads, my experiences attempting to make SCA order medallions has taught me that drawing  more complex designs on a glass bead is very difficult, even with my modern torch set up. Now, sculpting animals and figures can be done a bit more easily. The Phoenicians, for example, made glass beads in the shape of animal and human heads. However, this is not something that is found in Anglo-Saxon glass. I'm honestly not sure why. Overall, I have not found much that indicates that Anglo-Saxon glass designs were ritually or spiritually significant in any way. Many cultures, both earlier and later than the Anglo-Saxons created "evil eye beads" as protective amulets. However, no archeologists that I have read have identified an Anglo-Saxon bead with such a design. The closest I have come to a symbolic design on a bead is an Annular Twist pendant bead with a cross design on it, and it is the only cross design I have seen on an Anglo-Saxon glass bead.

While Anglo-Saxon glass beads did not incorporate Migration period stylistic preference for symbolic animal and human designs, glass beads can be seen to adhere to other aspects of Anglo-Saxon style. Anglo-Saxon artistic style was generally characterized by "bright and shining decoration" (Oxford Art Online, "Anglo-Saxon Art). Sculptures and walls were often painted bright colors (although little evidence of this remained today) and this preference for bright and contrasting colors and decoration is refereed to as polychromy by many books on Anglo-Saxon and Migration period art. In general surface decoration on objects was important to the Anglo-Saxons: "for them, it was the undecorated that was exceptional (Dodwell 38). The  "visual aesthetic of early Anglo-Saxon jewelry" was one of "dense ornament and busy surfaces which play on contrasts of glitter and plainness" (Webster, 8). While simple monochrome beads made up a large number of beads found at excavation sites (this is likely because they are much easier to produce), decorated Anglo-Saxon beads that are found have bright colors and surfaces filled with design; often several overlapping basic design elements are present (dots with waves, lines with waves, or two overlapping waves with dots, etc). Higher status graves also generally have more complexly decorated beads that lower status graves, showing that these decorated beads were highly valued (Hirst and Clark).

A wide variety of glass colors are evident in Anglo-Saxon glass; really all the basic colors of the rainbow are represented, along with white, brown and black. Archeologists have shown how metals were used to color glass since ancient time, and Anglo-Saxon bead artists also likely knew how to alter the colors of the glass that was imported to the island from other areas  by adding recycled glass of other colors to a crucible of glass before making their beads (Henderson). Nothing I have seen indicates that certain colors were harder to acquire than others. However, some colors were prefered for aesthetic reasons. The word polychromy also refers more specifically to a Migration period preference for red (glass or garnet) and gold ornamentation. Decoration with garnet and gold (the later of which became much more easily available for a time during this period) became very popular in the Merovingian kingdom and by extension in Anglo-Saxon society (Oxford Art Online, "Anglo Saxon Art). Merovingian bead design had a clear color preference for red and gold, and many beads  with these colors are found in Anglo-Saxon graves as imports. 

The Anglo-Saxons also were interested by "variable brightens;" they did not have our modern obsession with color itself (Dodwell, 33-4). The opposition of light and dark is actually a regular theme in Anglo-Saxon poetry (Webster 25). In the physical arts, this contrast is found in the gold and red polychrome style mentioned above  (Websiter 25). This preference for variable brightness and a general lack of concern about the colors themselves might explain the red, yellow, and green "traffic light beads," a bead design that was created by Anglo-Saxons (and not imported from the continent). To modern eyes, this color combination is somewhat garish, but the colors do contrast very well with each other on beads. This red, green and yellow color combination can also be found in some pages of the Lindsfarne gospels.

During 7-8th centuries bead in Anglo-Saxon England became less associated with the Germanic continent. The designs became more simple and more monochrome. With the spread of Christianity, glass stopped being burred in graves, and our knowledge of Anglo-Saxon glass beads decreases as a result.


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While it is possible to identify and trace the origin of cultures artistic style, Dr. Dorothy Hoogland Verkerk, a professor of Art History, notes that this distinction is a very modern one “There is a constant back and forth exchange of ornament, pattern and design in all medieval art. So it is less important to trace the origin of a design — who did it first — than it is to appreciate the borrowings and choices made by artists and patrons.” 

Source: http://etc.ancient.eu/2014/10/30/irelands-exquisite-insular-art/

 

Firebrick Bead Furnace Draft Documentation

Draft documentation from experiments conducted with Bruni and Aibhilin (May 2 and 3) with a firebrick bead furnace.

Please note that this documentation is in progress and things may change as we continue to edit the document. Information may also be added after further experimentation.

A close up view of some of my early beads

 I've been told that one of the things I should start doing is showing off some of my less than perfect beads. I've done this recently with a few projects to make the process I go through when learning a new design more evident.  However, another reason to show off my less than perfect beads is to let new bedmakers know that we all start from the beginning, and that as far as I have come with my bead making stills, I was once new just like they are. Below are some of my earliest beads, posted here, so others can see.

Many of them are in the same basic colors, because one of the ways I tried to learn beaming was to take a glass rod, and made bead after bead using a technique to practice and to try and troubleshoot my technique. However, some of my earliest work with "stringer" decoration has not been saved because I did not even practice this decoration on a bead. I headed up the end of glass rod, mushed it flat into a paddle shape, and decorated the paddle. This was a nice way to practice decoration techniques efficiently because I did not need to invest as much time in the creation of a bead to decorate.

May-be Event in Iron Bog

A happy day spent teaching and demonstrating glass beads.

I really love May-be. Its  small local event, and I get to spend the entire day demonstrating and teaching. Plenty of customers, but not too overwhelming. I also really like making beads to order for the younger children who come over to visit and are not old enough to try on their own.

Period Beadmaking Experiments

This weekend, Bruni, Aibhilin and I made beads using a more period appropriate fire source.  Documentation is forthcoming, and future projects are being planned based on what we learned! Stay Tuned.