One Of A Kind, Hand Made, Reticulated, Sterling Silver Brooch With Antique Venetian Glass Trade Beads & Ostrich 2024 Shell By Kathryne L. Wright

One Of A Kind, Hand Made, Reticulated, Sterling Silver Brooch With Antique Venetian Glass Trade Beads & Ostrich Shell By Kathryne L. Wright

A one-off piece I made when I was experimenting with sterling silver reticulation. The brooch measures 65mm from the highest point on top to the bottom of the longest dangle and 51mm at the widest point. The total gram weight is 13.2.

I used an odd shaped piece of sheet sterling silver and ran it thru a rolling mill with a piece of wire I formed into a coiled S shape to emboss the design.

I then used the tip of my torch flame to superheat the edges and coax them into a folded melt around the edge. I then "painted" the surface with heat until it caused the silver to "wrinkle" or reticulate. In indirect light, the ridges of reticulation casts shadows, like those thrown by mountains in the late afternoon sun.

Next I soldered a sterling pin stem and folded loop catch onto the back. It offers 22mm of useable length on the pin stem. I stamped the back with the sterling mark.

I then drilled and sanded the holes to remove any ruff edges and began choosing the beads for the dangles. The smaller red beads are called White Hearts because their core is white.

It is a clever technique because it uses the white core to reflect light entering the translucent red and bounces it back out to the eye. This gives a rich glow to the beads.

The large, cranberry red, 21mm long bead with blue and white surface decoration are called feather beads. While the glass is hot, the fine blue and white lines of glass are added to the surface and a wire is dragged thru the hot glass to create the "feather" effect.

The small, tubular, white glass bead has faint lines revealing that it is a wound glass bead. Look closely and you can see the spiral twist in the texture. I like how this bead and the speckled ostrich shell disks connect with the white in the feather bead.

The tiny striped glass disk bead is a slice of a chevron bead, one of the bead types Venice is famous for. They begin with a gather of glass, blow a 2024 bubble into it and put it in a star shaped mold. A different color of glass is layered over this star shaped cylinder and it goes into a star mold again.

This was often repeated many times until the desired number of layers was achieved.

A final outer layer would be added making it a smooth, round tube of glass. The glass was then pulled to reduce the diameter while increasing the length which has the same effect on the bubble inside.

After cooling very slowly the next step would be to grind away some of the surface which would reveal some of the pattern of lines beneath. The beads were then cut from the cane of patterned glass and the center hole made with the bubble revealed.

Sometimes they cut thin disks. When they cut longer pieces these would be ground even further and tapered on the ends showing all of the layers of chevron pattern beneath.

Lastly I added sterling silver wire and beads to bring all of the elements together. I thought of how grape vine creates the most lovely tendrils and entwines anything within reach. I let the wire behave as the grapevine and entwine upon itself.

I used a wire brush on the surface of the metal and liver of sulphur to give it an aged appearance. A soft cloth did the rest. You can polish it if you like a brighter look, but not too much. If you leave the recesses dark you will see more of the details in the texture.

I loved making this piece. It was a journey of learning and play bringing ancient techniques and antique beads into the present. A fine addition to any boho, ethnic, tribal, jewelry collection.

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to read the entire listing.

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There is much more on the way from my collection of gallery treasures. Please ask if you are looking for something special. I just might have exactly what you need.

Here is a link back to my shop if you would like to see my other treasures.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/HammeredEdgeStudio?

PS. If you need a gauge to measure items. I sell them. You can see the one I sell in one of the photos. Here is the link below.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/231607290/all-important-brass-gauge-for-measuring