Maltese Ganutell handmade beaded flowers ceramic vase Vintage

Description

Maltese Ganutell handmade beaded flowers ceramic vase Vintage.
This gorgeous rare Ganutell with hand painted vase was found in Malta and sent to me in Australia. Ganutell beaded flowers in ceramic vase size 23cm (h) x 9cm (w) x 2.5cm (d). The size of the case is 25cm x 19cm x 4cm.
What’s a Ganutell? It’s not clear exactly where or when Ganutell originated, although by most accounts it’s been around for centuries. As with most crafts, the art was passed from generation to generation without any written record of how it’s done. The technique may have become extinct were it not for the local artists on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. Here these flowers are a tradition, and are still being made to decorate churches and for head-dresses and wedding favours. The craft is now generally known as Maltese. The process of creating Ganutell flowers is quite simple. It’s very similar to beaded flowers in that it involves petals made by wrapping around a central wire; but it uses a prepared thread made by spinning a very fine wire with silk thread or rayon floss, rather than strung beads as in a beaded flower.
I found that there are few resources available for instruction and supplies, and unfortunately this has led to modification of the process so that we often see items described as Ganutell that are technically not really the same.