beadwork
beadwork, use of beads in fabric decoration; beads may be individually stitched, applied in threaded lengths, or actually woven into the material, in which the weft is threaded with beads before being woven in. Glass beads were used decoratively in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome and by the druids in religious rites.
During the Middle Ages, when embroidery was an important art form, beads sometimes were used in the finest embroidery work. The magnificent Butler-Bowden cope, a long ecclesiastical vestment (c. 1330), was elaborately embellished with seed pearls and green beads. Examples of beadwork of a purely pictorial, rather than decorative, nature also survive from this period. A series of small portraits of apostles executed entirely with colored beads stitched to a vellum backing are believed to have come from the Halberstadt Cathedral, Germany, and may have been inspired by small contemporary Byzantine mosaics.
During the Renaissance, pearls and beads often were sewn in patterns on the clothing of the wealthy. In Elizabethan England, purses and other small objects often were liberally adorned with gilt thread, beads, and seed pearls. By the third quarter of the 17th century, beadwork had become so popular in England that many articles—chiefly fancy boxes, small pictures, and a particular form of basket—were decorated all over with beads. In southern Italy and Sicily, a bold form of decoration with gilt thread and coral beads was produced, apparently in considerable quantity, during the 17th century and later.
In the 18th century beadwork fell out of favor in Europe, but it became popular again during the 19th century. Purses knitted with bead-threaded cotton were particularly popular shortly after 1800, and throughout the 19th century such small articles as gloves, mittens, belts, garters, stockings, and parasol covers frequently were decorated with beads. A great many women’s dresses were richly ornamented with beads of all kinds. Beadwork as dress decoration recurred periodically in the 20th century.
The simplest and earliest American Indian beadwork may have been a string made from bone, shell, or seeds. The introduction of glass trade beads by Europeans between the 15th and 19th centuries stimulated more complex designs. Among the Plains Indians, beadwork designs originally were geometrical, similar to the old porcupine-quill or moose-hair embroidery, and were placed on clothing, bags, and other articles. In the 19th century, floral designs became popular. The Inuit of Greenland and North America use beadwork to ornament boots, capes, and tunics.
Throughout Africa beadwork is used to ornament ceremonial headdresses, tunics, masks, baskets, vessels, and a variety of other objects. Motifs and palettes vary among the peoples, with a vivid and sophisticated geometry predominating. Beadwork in Africa has also been used to convey information, such as the Zulu peoples’ beaded love letters.
Beads are used over most of Southeast Asia, mainly as dress and weapon ornaments. Borneo beadwork, exceptionally, uses curvilinear zoomorphic ornament, mostly in black, yellow, and red. Oceanic beadwork is simpler and, except in Melanesia, tends to rely on natural materials such as wood and shell.