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Evidence of Early 17th-Century Glass Beadmaking in and around Rouen, France

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BEADS
Journal of the Society of
Bead Researchers

2019 Vol. 31
 THE SOCIETY OF BEAD RESEARCHERS

Officers for 2019

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Karlis Karklins Editor
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©2019 Society of Bead Researchers

Printed in Canada

Design and Production: David Weisel

Cover: Some of the production tubes, wasters, and finished beads found in and around Rouen, France. As an indication of scale, the round
bead adorned with dots in the upper center is 16.8 mm in diameter (© Musée-Métropole-Rouen-Normandie; Cliché Yohann Deslandes).
Inside back cover: Detail of the Lokono apron in Figure 9 (p. 27) of Oehrl’s article.
 EVIDENCE OF EARLY 17TH-CENTURY GLASS BEADMAKING
IN AND AROUND ROUEN, FRANCE

Karlis Karklins and Adelphine Bonneau

Material evidence of a drawn glass beadmaking industry during THE ROUEN BEAD ASSEMBLAGE
the early part of the 17th century has been recovered from
several loci in and around Rouen, France. Housed in the Musée The Thaurin material was initially evaluated and
des Antiquités in Rouen, the material is comprised of production cataloged by Karklins based on color images provided by
tubes and wasters (most of which exhibit evidence of a speo heat the Musée des Antiquités. Subsequently Bonneau visited
rounding), as well as finished beads. It is significant as many of the museum and was able to examine the actual specimens
the recorded varieties have correlatives at archaeological sites in and obtain detailed descriptions. The glass varieties are
eastern North America occupied during the late 16th and early identified using the classification system devised by
17th centuries. These include such distinctive types as seven- Kenneth and Martha Kidd (1970) and expanded by Karklins
layer chevrons, a Nueva Cadiz variety, and frit-core beads. It is, (2012). Varieties not recorded by the Kidds are marked by
therefore, quite possible that some of the American specimens may an asterisk (*). Colors are designated using the names and
have originated in northern France and not just Venice or Holland codes presented in the Munsell Bead Color Book (Munsell
as is commonly believed. Color 2012). Diaphaneity is described using the terms
transparent (tsp.), translucent (tsl.), and opaque (op.). The
frit-core beads are classified using the typology presented
INTRODUCTION by Karklins and Bonneau (2018). All measurements are in
millimeters (D: diameter, L: length).
While there is quite a bit of historical documentation
regarding the production of glass beads in and around Rouen, The material in the bead assemblage falls into two
France, during the early post medieval period (e.g., Loewen major categories: 1) production tubes and 2) finished beads
2019), material evidence for it is rather limited (Cabart and production rejects.
1995; Dussubieux 2009). It was therefore of great interest
to learn of a collection of drawn bead production tubes and
beadmaking wasters held by the Musée des Antiquités in Production Tubes
Rouen (inv. no. 1718.1.2 [D]). Attributed to the beginning
of the 17th century, some of the material (ca. 48 items) was
recovered in 1869 by Mr. Jacques-Michel Thaurin during A variety of bead production tubes are represented.
street construction at the intersection of rue Jeanne-d’Arc Since they could be used to produce both tubular (Kidd
and rue du Gros-Horloge in the old part of Rouen (Musée classes I and III) and rounded (Kidd classes II and IV)
départemental des Antiquités 2014). Another specific find varieties, Kidd and Kidd codes for both are provided below.
site noted by Thaurin is “Hotel de ville ouest, rue étoupée,” Ia1 / IIa1-3; op. barn red (10.0R 3/8); D: 4.2-4.6, L: 25.7-
an area about 0.35 km north of the previous site, which 41.7; Thaurin n=3 (Figure 1).
apparently yielded a single black tube. The collection also
contains material (ca. 436 pieces) from other, unspecified Ia2 / IIa6-8; op. black (N 1/); D: 9.9-16.1, L: 14.5-50.3;
sites in the city and surrounding area, some of which was regional n=120+, rue rue Étoupée n=1 (Figure 2).
collected by the Abbé Cochet (1871) in the latter part of the Ia3 / IIa9-10; tsp. light gray; D: 4.9, L: 41.6; regional n=1.
19th century. In the descriptions that follow, material from
the construction site is designated as “Thaurin” while that Ia* / IIa*; op. oyster white (N 8/); D: 3.8, L: 42.6; Thaurin
from other sites is denoted as “regional.” n=1 (Figure 3, middle).

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers 31:3-8 (2019)

4 BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers 31 (2019)

Ia7 / IIa17; op. mustard gold (2.5Y 6/8); D: 7.1-31.7, L:

11.6-24.9; regional n=200+ (see cover). At some point,
these specimens and the intact and malformed light gold
specimens listed below were strung into two necklaces.
Ia* / IIa*; tsp. turquoise green (5.0 BG 4/8); D: 8.1-8.8, L:
9.4-56.0; regional n=3 (Figure 4).

Figure 1. Red production tubes (all photos © Musée-Métropole-

Rouen-Normandie; Cliché Yohann Deslandes). Figure 4. Turquoise green production tubes.

Ia* / IIa*; tsp. bright aqua blue (2.5B 6/7); D: 2.2, L: 12.5-
15.9; regional n=2 (Figure 5, row 1, nos. 5-6).
Ia* / IIa*; tsl. copen blue (5.0PB 5/7); D: 2.8-5.7; L: 12.4-
15.1; regional n=3 (Figure 5, top row, nos. 1, 4, 7).
Ia18 / IIa52-54; tsl. ultramarine (6.25PB 3/12); D: 4.0-10.7,
L: 70.0-86.7; Thaurin n=1, regional n=1 (Figure 6, top).
Ia19 / IIa55-57; tsl. bright navy (7.5PB 2/7); D: 10.6-10.8,
L: 63.2-140.0; Thaurin n=4 (Figure 6, bottom four).
Ib7 / IIb*; op. oyster white (N 8/) with 3 barn red (10.0R
3/8) and 3 copen blue (5.0PB 5/7) stripes alternating around
the bead; D: 7.3, L: 36.5; Thaurin n=1 (Figure 3, top).

Figure 2. Black production tubes. Ib*(?) / IIb*(?); op. white (N 9/); linear marks on the
surface suggest that this bead may originally have been
decorated with stripes; D: 10.9, L: 35.0; regional n=1.
Ib* / IIb56(?); tsp. cerulean blue (7.5B 4/8) with 3 op. white
stripes; D: 11.9, L: 18.0; Thaurin n=1 (Figure 7, center).
Ib* / IIb*; tsl. ultramarine (6.25PB 3/12) with 6 white
stripes; D: 10.4, L: 75.6; Thaurin n=1 (Figure 3, bottom).
Ibb* / IIbb*; op. black (N 1/) with 4 barn red-on-white
stripes; D: 8.3-8.5, L: 100.5-100.9; Thaurin n=2 (Figure 8).
Ibb* / IIbb*; tsl. mist blue (10.0B 6/3) with 3 barn red-
on-white stripes; D: 9.4, L: 26.7; Thaurin n=1 (Figure 3,
bottom).
IIIk* / IIIm1; chevron with seven layers: tsl. dark blue
(7.5PB 2/5) exterior/ op. white/ op. barn red (10.0R 3/8)/
op. white/ tsl. dark blue/ op. white/ tsl. light blue core; D:
Figure 3. Various production tubes. 10.4-15.2, L: 11.6-12.3; Thaurin n=2 (Figure 9).
 Karklins and Bonneau: Evidence of Early 17th-Century Glass Beadmaking in Rouen, France 5

Figure 5. Production tubes, malformed beads, and finished beads.

Finished Beads and Production Rejects Thaurin n=11 (Figure 5, row 1, no. 8, row 2, nos. 1-4; Figure
11).
There are a number of finished beads, as well as several IIa43; round to barrel shaped; tsl./op. bright blue (5.0B
that were broken during manufacture and quite a few 5/7); D: 5.8-7.8, L: 5.2-8.2; Thaurin n=7 (Figure 5, row 2,
malformed specimens including examples of beads joined no. 6; Figure 11).
side to side and end to end indicating heat rounding using
the a speo method (Karklins 1993). Non-glass beads are IIa*; oval/barrel shaped; op. light gray blue (7.5B 6/2); D;
represented by two malformed frit-core specimens. 6.5-9.1, L: 9.2-11.4; regional n=2 (Figure 10, lower left &
upper center).
IIa17; round (includes oblate and barrel shaped); op.
mustard gold (2.5Y 6/8); D: 6.3-11.7, L: 5.9-11.8; regional IIa*; round; op. copen blue (5.0PB 5/7); D: 5.6; L: 6.9;
n=52 (Figure 10). regional n=1.

IIa*; oval; op. mustard gold (2.5Y 6/8); D: 7.1-8.8, L: 11.3- IIa52; round; tsp. ultramarine (6.25PB 3/12); D: 6.9, L: 7.7-
31.4; regional n=47 (Figure 10). 8.3; regional n=2 (Figure 10, bottom center).

IIa*; round; op. jade green (7.5G 5/6); D: 4.0-6.7, L: 3.7- IIa55; round; tsl. bright navy (7.5PB 2/7); D: 6.4, L: ca. 6.6;
10.3; Thaurin n=3 (Figure 11, center and upper right). Thaurin n=7 fused (Figure 11, bottom).

IIa40; round to barrel shaped; op. robin’s egg blue (5.0B IIa*; oval; op. bright navy (7.5PB 2/7); D: 6.3-6.6, L: 6.9-
6/6); numerous bubbles in glass; D: 3.9-8.7, L: 4.1-8.2; 10.2; regional n=2 (Figure 10, top).
6 BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers 31 (2019)

Figure 9. Production tube: blue seven-layer chevron.

Figure 6. Ultramarine and bright navy production tubes.

Figure 7. A broken Nueva Cadiz bead (left) and production tubes.

Figure 8. Striped production tubes. Figure 10. Various beads strung into a necklet.

IIIc’*; tubular; twisted square cross section; tsp. cerulean longitudinal stripes in white; D: 10.6, L: 17.4; Thaurin n=1
blue (7.5B 4/8) exterior/ op. white middle layer/ tsp. cerulean (Figure 12).
blue core; one end exhibits diagonal grinding to show the
Type 6 frit-core bead having a round op. ultramarine (6.25PB
interior layers, the other is broken; Nueva Cadiz style; D:
3/12) body encircled by a wavy white line. In each undulation
7.8-13.3, L: 25.2-29.2; Thaurin n=2 (Figure 7, left).
of the line is a floral design composed of 6 op. light sky blue
Type 2 frit-core bead with an oval op. bright navy (7.5PB (7.5B 7/6) dots around an op. light orange (10.0YR 7/10)
2/7) body decorated with four rows of three dots and four dot; D: 16.8, L: 13.8; Thaurin n=1 (Figure 13).
 Karklins and Bonneau: Evidence of Early 17th-Century Glass Beadmaking in Rouen, France 7

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The material described above provides incontrovertible

proof that drawn glass beads were produced in and around
Rouen during the early 17th century. It remains unclear,
however, if the material represents a glassworks that both
produced the canes and transformed them into beads, or
small workshops – likely in beadmakers’ homes as was
common practice at the time – that utilized canes obtained
from a nearby glassworks (Loewen 2019), or both. The
absence of glass-production wasters in the collection
seemingly rules out a glassworks but it is not known if
wasters were encountered but not collected.
Many of the Rouen bead varieties have counterparts at
sites occupied during the late 16th and early 17th centuries
in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. The
Figure 11. Various production rejects. most distinctive of these are the chevron, Nueva Cadiz, and
frit-core beads. Keith J. Little (2015) provides an excellent
synthesis of the distribution of the two former types in
northeastern North America, the majority of which come
from sites attributed to the early 17th century. The two frit-
core beads have correlatives as well. Type 2 has been found
at six sites in New York state and eastern Pennsylvania
dating to 1510-1670, while Type 6 is present at a site in
southern Quebec and another in eastern New York state, both
attributed to the 1571-1614 period (Karklins 2016, 2019).
The source of these diagnostic beads has long been
a point of debate. Some have contended that the chevron
and Nueva Cadiz beads – especially those found at more
southerly sites in Pennsylvania and Virginia – could have
Figure 12. Type 2 frit-core bead. derived from Spanish sources to the south (Smith and Good
1982). Such an origin is far less likely for these beads found
at more northerly sites. Given that these bead types have
been found in Rouen, the likeliest explanation is that they
originated at beadmaking workshops scattered over northern
France, possibly even those represented by the collection
under discussion.
Coupled with finds of frit-core beads in Paris (Turgeon
2001) and lacking finds elsewhere in Europe, the presence
of the two frit-core beads – both of which appear to be
production rejects – among the wasters adds credence to the
hypothesis that they are a product of France. Along similar
lines, the IIa40 robin’s egg blue beads which typically
contain abundant tiny bubbles support Peter Francis’ (2009)
contention that beads of this type – which he termed “bubble
glass beads” – were made in France. While corroborative
evidence from other bead production sites in France has yet
Figure 13. Type 6 frit-core bead. to be forthcoming, French archaeologists are investigating
 8 BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers 31 (2019)

glassmaking sites of the 16th-17th centuries and may Kidd, Kenneth E. and Martha Ann Kidd
eventually provide it. 2012 A Classification System for Glass Beads for the Use of
Field Archaeologists. Beads: Journal of the Society of
Bead Researchers 24:39-61.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Little, Keith J.
I wish to thank the Musée des Antiquités, Rouen,
2010 Sixteenth-Century Glass Bead Chronology in Southeastern
for providing images of the Thaurin bead collection and
North America. Southeastern Archaeology 29(1):222-232.
permitting Bonneau to examine the material. Sincere thanks
as well to Marie-José Opper and Jean-Marie Durand who
were instrumental in obtaining the images and paved the Loewen, Brad
way for the on-site study of the Thaurin collection. 2019 Glass and Enamel Beadmaking in Normandy, Circa 1590-
1635. Beads: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers
31:9-20.
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1871 Répertoire archéologique du département de la Seine- Jeanne-d’Arc et du Gros-Horloge, collecté par Thaurin.
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Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers 30:55-59. adelphine.bonneau@gmail.com

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