6 Black Lewis And Clark Floral Venetian Trade Beads

"Lewis and Clark" beads were produced in the famous glass-making workshops of Murano between 1800 and 1920. Murano, an island off the coast of Venice, had been a world-renowned center for glass-making since the end of the 13th century, when Venetian leaders relocated the city-state's glass foundries to the comparative safety of the island. The Murano glass industry grew quickly and flourished. Trade secrets were fiercely protected, and bead-makers based on the island were required by law to stay there for the course of their lifetimes. The dazzling array of glass beads produced on Murano was exported to destinations across the world, most notably in the baggage of Dutch and German traders, who carried Murano beads to Africa and the Americas. One style of black glass bead with trailed decorations became particularly popular in North America and was associated with the great transcontinental incursions of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark at the beginning of the 19th century. The Lewis