Discovering Glass: Antique Sew-On Beads

Enne litreid kasutati rõivatööstuses selliseid klaasist kaunistusi. Klaasist kivike oli võimalikult õhuke ning augu või aukudega, et seda saaks riidele õmmelda. Pildil on 19.sajandi lõpust müügimehe näidiskaart, millel näidatud saadaval olevad suurused ja värvid. See kaart oli osa suuremast komplektist, millest osadel kaartidel oli käsitsi kirjutatud prantsuskeelne tekst. Lisaks on pilte klaaskivikestest, mis mul on õnnestunud hankida.

Kuna kõik uus on unustatud vana, siis on praegu üsna levinud akrüülist sarnased kaunistused ning samuti on kristallitootjad (sh Swarovski ja Preciosa) võtnud oma tootevalikusse kristallklaasist õmmeldavaid kaunistusi.

Sample card of glass sew-on stones from the end of 19th century. Stones have foiling and frosted surface. Card is decorated with colorful inks by hand

In the corner is an intricate hand-drawn decoration with blue and golden ink. It should be the logo of the company

 

Tiny 5mm sew-on glass stones with gold foiling and barely noticeable faceting, probably from Czech

Larger 14mm glass sew-on glass stones in opaque turquoise color and no foiling

Before plastic sequins/paillettes garment industry used these kind of glass stones. They were as thin as possible with hole or holes for sewing. On the first photo there is a salesman sample card from the end of 19th century showing available colors and sizes. This card was part of a collection with some cards having handwritten French text on the back. Here's also some additional photos of glass stones that I managed to purchase.

Since there's nothing new under the sun, it is very common nowadays to see similar acrylic stones and also many crystal manufacturers (incl Swarovski and Preciosa) have crystal glass sew-on stones in their assortment.