The Viking people had a fascination with intricately made beads and tokens of all sorts, often taking them in raids and using them to show off their wealth. Glass beads have been found in both men's and women's graves and were likely to have been used when bartering, as a makeshift currency.
We are lucky enough to have a varied selection of glass beads and game pieces hand crafted for us at Present Past. These are made using a process known as lampwork and are spun on a mandrel. Traditionally, small fragments of previously made coloured glass would be heated over a concentrated heat source from a small forge. As these pieces melt they are spun onto a rod, the mandrel, and manipulated to form intricately decorative forms. Modern lampworking uses a gas torch to do the heating, however this is essentially the only modernisation.
Treasure necklaces are beautiful archaeological finds, which often incorporated glass beads, alongside a variety of other precious objects, such gemstones, decorative metalwork and amulets. They have been found all over the Viking world, from Russia and Scandinavia, to Britain.
Present Past strives to produce high quality historical inspirations and reproductions, meticulously researched and with the highest standards of customer care.
Present Past offers necklaces made with handmade glass and ceramic beads, which are sourced to reproduce the beads found in archaeological finds. See our Historical Jewellery page for more information.
We also offer craft kits based on these fascinating finds. For more on these, see our Make Your Own Treasure Necklace kits.
We also offer a range of intricately decorated glass playing pieces, all of which are direct reproductions of historical finds from the Iron Age through to the 1100s. Visit our Playing Pieces page for more details.
The following pages act as the online portfolio of our past and present work, many of which are often made time and time again due to popularity. To find out more about each of our items and enquire as to customisation and timescales, then just get in touch via the 'Contact Us' page.
To place an order simply send us an email with your requirements. Once we have your final order we will send you an email 'Paypal' invoice. Transactions can also take place via our Etsy shop upon request.
You can also view our Etsy shop to see all of our current 'in stock' items or to view more of our previous work.
To find out more about what makes our products unique and more about Present Past then simply see 'Our Philosophy' and 'Who we are' pages.
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