They look like wound "crumb" beads.
They look like Indian made beads to me. The roughness and sizes of the holes make me think so.
i have to admit i cannot discern the holes as the image on my computer screen looks very dark -to me they might well be dark red with an even sprinkling of black crumbs, perhaps another example imitating Lava beads?
i have a black necklace with similar textured beads but in graduated sizes which i believe is Czech 1930-40s
Paula can you show or describe the holes? if they are European, not Indian the they will be worth a lot more...
much clearer image, thanks! - and i see the large holes better ... do you think they are furnace-wound?
I'm traveling until later next week- currently in Richmond, VA - but I think I have one of these and I'll compare it to your images once I get back.
Still going with Venetian - and I'll also search through the Sick catalog for them as well.
I have several different kinds of "end of the day" beads. Do u think they are all Czech ? Will post pictures tomorrow.
I would think that crumb beads are made pretty much anywhere that handmade wound beads are made. They are also called 'end of day beads' implying that the beads were made with the glass sweepings of the workspace at the end of the day. Seems pretty unlikely, as most of these beads have quite specific color combinations.
Lampworkers call these crums 'frit'. Not sure if that is a recent name, or that is has been along for a while. You can buy frit (or make your own) in a great variety of colors and mixes. It is a fairly easy way to add decoration to a bead. You can melt the pieces in completely, or you can leave them slighty bumpy and rough.
I have seen Czech, Venetian, Indian, Chinese, Indonesian, French and Japanese crumb beads. And I have made my own.
Having looked at the Sick & Co catalogue, I see many crumb beads, but.....the colors do not really match the example shown here. Most are more colorful and are brighter. There are some with a black base color, but then the Venetian ones usually have a bright yellow or white crumb. used.
So the color and the way they are finished at the ends make me think Indian. But having said that, their general appearance is almost universal in style......
Here are some more crumb beads. An example from a Czech samplecard, and some of the first lampwork beads I made.