Antique French glass seed beaded red and green flower stem Czechoslovakia

Antique French glass seed beaded red and green flower bouquet 
These flowers were made individually by hand at the turn of the last century using Czech green, white and red seed beads. Originally made for making larger flower arrangements or funeral wreaths. Often large arrangements could be found in ornamental vases or under glass domes as was popular in Victorian times through to the 1920's. 

Size: 10 inches total length approx

French Beading is a traditional craft with a long history. The basic idea behind French beading is to thread tiny seed beads onto wire and then shape this to form individual petals or leaves which can be assembled into complete life-size flowers. The larger flowers can have thousands of beads and take hours or days to make. Nobody is quite sure why it is called ‘French Beading’ as it is thought to have originated in medieval Venice. French beading has been going in and out of fashion ever since and has been practised throughout Europe and all around the world. It was particularly popular in Victorian times, but it acquired an unfortunate association with death as these flowers were commonly made into funeral wreaths.