These four boxes contain a panoply of beads of different type, fineness, colour and shade. Colours range from deep indigo to pastel lavender, from dark green to pale yellow. Rocaille beads are rounded seed beads with no flat sides. Charlottes or cut beads, on the other hand, are glass seed beads with one or more flat sides. Both types are commonly found in Nyonya beadwork, often on the same object, and are known as manek potong.European glass seed beads had been mass-produced since the late 15th century while smaller and more colourful beads were made possible by the technological advances in glassmaking in about 1760. Venice, Bohemia and Lyons were well known centres of bead production in early 20th century.
