End of the Day Tabular Beads

End of the Day Tabular BeadsWow these beads are just gorgeous. They are flat, yellow, tabular Venetian trade beads, with wonderfully random decorations and it's quite unusual to find a complete strand of matched beads like this. This style of beads are often referred to as End of the Day beads, because the bead makers us all of the cane and glass decorations that are left over after a busy day of making specific beads. The beads at the top of the strand were ground down into

Wow -- these beads are just gorgeous.  They are flat, yellow, tabular Venetian trade beads, with wonderfully random decorations and it's quite unusual to find a complete strand of matched beads like this.  This style of beads are often referred to as End of the Day beads, because the bead makers us all of the cane and glass decorations that are left over after a busy day of making specific beads.  The beads at the top of the strand were ground down into triangles, and thus the strand is roughly size-graduated.  

Now these particular bead are in extremely mixed shape.  Apparently these beads were not particularly robust (perhaps they were not annealed properly), and many show major chips or other extensive wear.  Fortunately, the beads tend to have a "good side" and a "bad side", which  creates a lot of possible design uses other than as a necklace.  Now to be clear -- we don't see these as taking away from the beauty of the beads -- but we want to make sure you are aware.  You can see the close up for representative examples of the condition of the beads.

The strand measures approximately 30 inches long.  One of the larger tabular bead measures 27 wide by 22 mm in length by 13 mm thick.