can be covered with silver coating using a cold process with the help of silver ammonium nitrate
and a solution ofclove and cassia oil in atcohol. Also in the first quarter of the 19th Century there
was already a certain parallel development in the decorating of blown beads and mirror produc-
tion, since this kind of bead was also coated with a reflecting iead and tin alloy.
Not until after 1855, did silver coating become completely practicaI by using the silver coating
liquids prescribed by Petitjean and Liebig; this improved method of production, the so-called
coid-method silver coating, was immediately tested and implemented by Weiskopf. /4s a result,
the bead business experienced an undreamed-of upswing. Whereas betöre this, no Austrian
product had been able to boast of such widely distributed sales as the Bohemian glass bead, the
metallized bead now made its triumphant march across the whole world... The silver solution
used for lining beads could be bought back then from the pharmacist, Ullrich, later also from the
Weiskopf Chemicals factory in Morchenstern. In 1868, Hartwig Weiskopf had applied to the Gab
lonz district authorities for permission to manufacture Chemicals...” (Meissner 1954, pp. 6, 7).
According to Benda, the application of a mirror backing to drawn beads was invented
in Morchenstern:
“An additional decoration is achieved by lining the inside walls of blown glass tubes with silver,
whereby the beads acquire a silver mirror-like appearance, and when yellow glass is used, one
similar to gold. This mirror-backing for drawn beads was invented in the year 1853 in Morchen
stern, where an outside assistant taught the beadmakers ..."(Benda 1877, pp. 284, 285).
The early practice of sucking the silver solution into the bead by mouth resulted in
agriosis, the blue to black discoloration caused by silver deposits in the skin (Parkert
1925, p. 141). The “Moors of the Mountains” (Winter 1900, p. 77) was the name given
to these unfortunate people who suffered from this occupational disease. As a result,
attempts were made to use simple suction devices with rubber pressure. The
disadvantage, however, was that each bead had to be lined separately. In 1878, a tool-
maker was supposed to have introduced a lining machine (Lilie 1895, pp. 165, 166).
This process was improved by Parkert (ill.218, p. 268). Using a principle of
communicating tubes, it was possible to silver coat the glass tubes in bundles (Parkert
1925, pp. 141, 142).
Towards the end of the 19th Century, silver electro-plating was also mentioned:
“Very beautiful wares are also produced by galvanic silver coating. Since glass as such does not
conduct electricity, no metal would precipitate onto a naked glass surface, so that it is necessary
to make the glass conductive beforehand. This is done with a shiny platinum coating or better,
with a simple luster. This makes the glass conductive and the electro-plated beads are in no way
inferior in appearance to true silver beads” (S. L.: Die Glasindustrie des Isergebirges, Sprechsaal
1896, p. 606).
In 1888, Ignaz Finger from Brunn am Gebirge in Austria received a privilege
(No. 38/2989) for an improvement in the “Production of silver coated glass beads.” He
succeeded in making perfectly round silvered glass using the following method: each
single sphere was broken off with a sharp Steel device right after it was blown from a
glass tube. This produced a perfectly smooth opening, whereas the beads blown in a
row (“Kiautsche”) had little cylindrical necks at the hole. The silvering itself was done in
a bath. Afterwards Finger removed the outer coating by shaking the beads in a sack
with bran and polished the outer surfaces.
INTERIOR GILDING
Ever since they first appeared, being able to make the so-called “Parisian fine-gold
beads” and the “Real Gold Gilt Beads” (N.N., Lampenarbeit, n.d.) was a goal
producers of blown beads wanted very much to achieve. A bead that looked like gold
could be made in two different ways: by the cheaper method of lining topaz-colored
glass with silver or by inserting gold into crystal glass. According to Parkert, the true
