Bead

A color sample folder of small "wedding cake" beads (various sizes: round: 8 mm, flat: 10 mm x 5 mm, fused: 16 mm x 7 mm). The quality of the beads was truly excellent, almost certainly intended for the European or American market; the beads intended for the African market were made in a less accurate way. The "Società Veneziana per l'Industria delle Conterie" was founded in 1898, bringing together the 17 most important producers of "conterie" (and other types of beads), to avoid dangerous price competition. Among them was also the "Pietro Bigaglia", which in the mid-1800s developed the art of working with murrina together with Franchini, father and son. The "Società Veneziana per l'Industria delle Conterie" represented, until the late 1970s, the largest glass industry in Murano. In 1902 the factory employed more than 1,000 workers! (the island’s inhabitants at that time were about 5,500). Dimensions of the postcard: 32 cm x 23 cm; it has been restored with a change of cotton thread.