People who participate in re-enactments and living history displays put a great deal of time and effort into assuring that the items they wear, use or display are of the highest quality and the most accurate for the time period in question. This applies not only to the larger items such as armour or clothing but the details, including shoes and accessories which in many cases means jewellery or other personal adornment. The smallest items can be the ones that set off the most carefully researched outfit, and their lack can make the difference between a good effort and the best presentation.
When we first started out researching glass beads from historic sources and looking at the modern versions available for living history/re-enactors, it soon became obvious that apart from a very few people who were researching and making beads mostly for personal use that there was not much available of any quality. One handmade bead is most definitely not like another, there are many handmade beads that are produced in China and India, but they are made under conditions that could charitably be called sweatshops, and are not properly annealed and often not cleaned of bead release before being packaged for sale. The beads produced in these conditions are indeed handmade but they are not going to be produced as the result of research into bead types, there will be no information available on the contents of the glass, or the processes involved. If the beads are not annealed there is every likelihood that they will eventually crack, and if they are not produced properly the sharp edges of the bead holes will eventually wear through the stringing material. They are mass-produced beads, which is fine if you want cheap and cheerful but they don’t have the longevity or the quality of an artist-made bead nor will they have the same research put into them.
As an individual bead artist, Mike makes his beads using glass from Italy, Germany and the UK, the glass is all produced under controlled conditions so the standard of the glass used is the highest available. The beads are made using techniques that have not changed for thousands of years, molten glass is gathered onto a wire rod (mandrel) which has been coated with a thin layer of a clay-like substance (bead release) and the glass is wound around the mandrel, and then other layers of molten glass are applied to create the decorative elements. Each bead is produced to a very high artistic and technical standard, and is based on existing styles, with attention to the details of that particular bead style to produce the most accurate beads possible. The beads Mike makes are not exact copies of existing beads any more than a beadmaker from one area would copy another exactly, the artistic styles of various anonymous beadmakers of the past are obvious when you look at a large number of beads, some are technically superior, some are quite crude, some are miniature works of glass art. Mike has taken the information and inspiration from the beads already in existence and then created his own using the same techniques but with his own artistic interpretation of what a bead is. They would not be out of place in the time periods stated for each bead, but would be as different from another beadmaker’s work as would one weaver from another weaver or two potters or any other artist or artisan. He does not simply want to copy what is already in existence, he creates his own beads in the styles known to us from museums and other sources.
Each bead in the Mancunium range from Tillerman Beads is guaranteed to be handmade by Mike Poole, they are annealed in a digitally controlled kiln, cleaned and described accurately as to the appropriate time-periods for which they are suitable. His background in art education gives him an insight into the creative process, which has been combined with an interest in history and a desire to create modern glass beads in historic styles.
Our areas of research and the timeline for work available from Tillerman Beads covers the time period from the Pre-historic/Iron Age on through the Viking era in Britain. We hope to eventually expand the time periods covered by the beads and jewellery for sale but at this time we are concentrating on the earlier periods which have such a rich display of material available. We do not pretend to offer a complete selection of every bead type or design that has been made over the past three to four thousand years, that is impossible, what we wish to offer is top-quality, artist-made glass beads to the people who want something more accurate and of better quality than imported or mass-produced beads.
| What to look for in a handmade bead.A handmade bead should be cleaned of bead release, show no obvious cracks or chips, have ‘dimpled’ edges around the bead hole and the beadmaker should give you information on the types of glass used, that the bead has been annealed and replacement or guarantee information on their work. In general, mass-produced beads will be handmade in that they are created by man and not machine, but they will show sharp edges, generally contain dusty material (uncleaned bead release) and not be annealed so they will be prone to cracking or breaking in half.
A good artist-made bead will last for longer than the owner or the artist. |