Ordering Information
and Contact

Marie & Andrew Gussmann
PO Box 1995, Browning, MT 59417-1995
phone: 406-450-5876
mail: beadmatchbeads@gmail.com

More info


You are here: Home / Beads

Vintage Italian Seed Bead Sample Cards, Seed Beads, Pony Beads (Pound Beads), and Micro Beads

The vintage Italian seed bead sample cards contain actual samples of the seed beads sewn to a heavy weight hand made paper that simulates brain tanned hide as found with traditional American Indian bead work. These cards are sold in sets and take hours to make. We have found that the best scenario for ordering beads is an actual sample of the vintage Italian glass seed beads themselves. Have you ever ordered vintage Italian seed beads or other vintage seed beads from a catalog, or website, only to find the beads did not meet your expectations? Acquiring these actual sample cards will assure you that you will receive the exact vintage Italian seed bead for either repairing an old piece, making a replication of an old piece, or for use in the design of a new piece. We urge you to acquire the vintage Italian seed bead sample cards, thus eliminating any error in ordering vintage seed beads.

The cards in the photographs have double lines of vintage Italian seed beads so the color will be more discernible on the web. The actual cards we send out have single lines of vintage Italian seed beads sewn on them.

Vintage Italian Seed Bead Card #1, Light to Darker Shades of Blue

The blue card starts off with a beautiful light greasy blue found on Lakota pipe bags, Plateau and Crow pieces including mirror bags, horse collars, horse head stalls, horse forehead ornaments, etc, moccasins from all groups, especially the Kiowa, Lakota, and Cheyenne. The beads then range from a beautiful Plateau/Crow light blue down to a more Sioux blue. The shades of blue spill over onto card #2. All of these blues have been matched to many different objects ranging in date from 1865 through 1900. They can be found on pieces from tribes in the Woodlands, Prairie, Plains, and Plateau. Many of these beads were the background colors on many pieces and have not been available in quantity for years.

Bead Card Set of 8 or Single Cards.
You can purchase card #1 for $15 or the set of all eight sample cards in a nicely illustrated fold over cover for $120 + shipping. (see photo of the set below)

Order now


Card #2, Sioux Blue, Periwinkles to Dark Blues, Reds, Yellows, Pumpkin Orange

Card #2 has some exquisite colors and shades of our vintage Italian seed beads. It starts out with some Sioux blues, beautiful periwinkles, some darker transparent's, and cobalt blue. The blues end with some "pony beads", the lighter found on early Plateau, and Blackfeet women's dresses. The dark transparent's can be found on the same dress as well on early beadwork from the Northern, Central, and Southern Plains. Within the red category are many different shades of "red white hearts" including a very nice rose white heart. There is also a dark transparent red found on Plateau, Crow, and Kiowa material. A greasy red found on Central Plains material, as well as through out North America. The yellows contain greasy's in several shades we have matched these yellows to old Nez Perce shirt strips, Plateau, Plains, and Prairie material. The cards ends with various pumpkin orange beads found on material from through out North America especially on Crow, Plateau, (transmontane) beadwork. A very nice assortment of vintage Italian seed beads, many of the blues are the background colors on many Native American vintage beadwork objects!

Bead Card Set of 8 or Single Cards.
You can purchase card #2 for $15 or the set of all eight sample cards in a nicely illustrated fold over cover for $120 + shipping. (see photo of the set below)

Order now


Card #3, Light to Dark Shades of Green. Various whites and clear vintage Itlaian seed beads

The greens include various shades of opaque, semi transparent/translucent, as well as some greasy greens. The greens have been matched to Native American Indian objects from through out the Plains, Prairie, Plateau, and subarctic/arctic regions. The light greasy green is common on Central and Southern Plains Indian moccasins and other American Indian material. The whites are found on objects from through out North America.

Bead Card Set of 8 or Single Cards.
You can purchase card #3 for $15 or the set of all eight sample cards in a nicely illustrated fold over cover for $120 + shipping. (see photo of the set below)

Order now


Card #4, Vintage Seed beads, blues, reds, yellows, pumpkin, greens, whites

Vintage seed bead sample card #4 has some exquisite colors and shades from a crate we just opened of our vintage Italian seed beads. Many nice blues new to our stock especially the periwinkle, some nice dark transparent blues, and some exquisite light blues often found on Plateau and Crow Indian beadwork. There are also some nice reds including a light red as well as some beautiful dark reds. A few yellows and a really nice pumpkin. You will also encounter some vintage green colors that we think are remarkable. There are some more transparents and whites, as well as some more pony/pound beads of interest. We are sure that you too will be excited about this excellent assortment that we have added to our stock!

Bead Card Set of 8 or Single Cards.
You can purchase card #4 for $15 or the set of all eight sample cards in a nicely illustrated fold over cover for $120 + shipping. (see photo of the set below)

Order now


Card #5, Micro Beads, for Doll Making, Fan Handles, Peyote Stitch, in various colors that were used on Vintage American Indian Beadwork

In this fine selection of micro seed beads (micro beads) there are blues in greasy, opaque, and transparent shades, nice yellows in semi transparent/greasy shades, opaque, transparent, greasy, chalk and porcelain whites, really great Cheyenne pinks in a regular and deep pink sometimes referred to as meat pink, and a black. The beads range in size from 15/0 through 22/0. Our beads have been used in pieces by nationally known American Indian artists/craft workers as well as other artists/craftworkers. They have all praised the quality, color availability and usefulness of our beads in their major artistic productions.

Bead Card Set of 8 or Single Cards.
You can purchase card #5 for $15 or the set of all eight sample cards in a nicely illustrated fold over cover for $120 + shipping. (see photo of the set below)

Order now


Card #6, Some shade and color variations from our stock of Vintage Italian seed beads, nice light blues to darker shades in opaque, transparent and greasy. Red white hearts, greasy and corn yellows, some nice transparent greens, and opaque and porcelain whites. A real nice grouping of important beads

Vintage seed bead sample card #6 has some excellent colors and shades from a another crate we just opened of our vintage Italian seed beads. Many nice blues new to our stock from light to dark blues and periwinkle, some nice dark transparent blues. There are also some sought after reds known to some as red white hearts, red under whites, etc. A few nice greasy yellows and a really nice pumpkin. You will also encounter some more vintage green colors that we think are remarkable. There are lotsof whites, as well as pony/pound bead of interest. We are sure that you too will be excited about this excellent assortment that we have added to our stock!

Bead Card Set of 8 or Single Cards.
You can purchase card #6 for $15 or the set of all eight sample cards in a nicely illustrated fold over cover for $120 + shipping. (see photo of the set below)

Order now


Vintage Italian Seed Bead Card #7, Light to Darker Shades of Turquoise, Periwinkle and Cobalt Blue; it also includes some transparent Pinks and an exquisite opaque Cheyenne pink

We are delighted to add this fine selection of beads that we already offer to our customers. The colors of the vintage Italian seed beads on this card, vary from a light to medium turquoise through a color referred to as 18 ½ which is a very desirable color and impossible to find. This color you would find in the Crow and plateau horse gear, moccasins, belts, shirts, etc., as a background color. The range of colors on the card, continue on to a light to dark shades of periwinkle blue in both opaque and translucent (greasy) colors. These are very desirable and hard to find colors that you would find throughout North America especially, Sioux, Crow and Plateau beadwork. The dark blues contain both opaque and transparent shades in a nice, warm hues, cobalt's and very dark, almost black-like blues. In the old beadwork, you would find many of these blues throughout North America. The pink beads being offered are translucent with the exception of the Cheyenne Pink which is a beautiful, intense opaque color.

Bead Card Set of 8 or Single Cards.
You can purchase card #7 for $15 or the set of all eight sample cards in a nicely illustrated fold over cover for $120 + shipping. (see photo of the set below)

Order now


Vintage Italian bead sample card #8 contains translucent lavender, white heart rose, some transparent reds, nice yellows, variety of greens including greasy greens, chalk whites, and an assortment of pony beads in various colors

Vintage Italian bead card #8 is composed of a variety of old colors beginning with the translucent lavenders found in Woodland, Plains and Plateau bandoliers, quivers, moccasins. There are some very nice shades of the white heart rose that are pleasing to the eye, much sought after and impossible to substitute. You can find white heart rose in beadwork all throughout North America. The next colors are transparent reds and vary from a light to a very deep red color. The yellows you find on this card are found on the Plains, Plateau, Woodland and Athabascan beadwork. The greens range from an apple green to dark greasy greens and you would find them used in beadwork in moccasins, shirts, leggings, horse gear, etc., in Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Sioux, Crow, Blackfeet and Plateau. We have a selection of chalk white in various sizes ranging from very small to large pony. The chalk whites are used in just about every kind of beadwork throughout North America. We offer Pony Beads in a variety of colors that are exact matches to beadwork i.e., blanket strips, moccasins, leggings, shirts, etc., from the early era of the nineteenth century from the Plains and Plateau.

Bead Card Set of 8 or Single Cards.
You can purchase card #8 for $15 or the set of all eight sample cards in a nicely illustrated fold over cover for $120 + shipping. (see photo of the set below)

Order now



Save List Broadcloth sample cards


BeadMatch Reproduction - 100% Wool Stroud Save List Broadcloth Sample Cards

Our Broadcloth card #1 is solely composed of our 19th century reproduction broadcloth. It represents all 6 types of our cloth that we that we offer for sale. This type of cloth has not been offered for sale in over a century. Currently our cloth is available in two colors Scarlet Red and Navy Blue colors. Eventually we will include Green color.

#1 Broadcloth Card: $10.00 plus shipping

Order now


Set of two 100% Wool Stroud Save List Broadcloth Sample Cards

Our Broadcloth Card #2 you will find some very fine cloth in a lighter weight, as well as, our broadcloth #9 which is the thickest of our broadcloths and is great for blankets, capotes, etc. It is also the widest 70” wide.

#2 Broadcloth Card: $5.00 plus shipping

Order now



100% Wool Stroud Save List Broadcloth Sample Cards

A set of both Broadcloth cards #1 & #2 is $15.00 plus shipping,

Please note: Because each piece of wool is hand stitched and dyed, there may be a slight variation in the pattern of the “saw tooth”.

Order now

Bead card set

Sample Card Set, 8 Sample Cards in a beautiful fold over cover by artist, Museum Curator, ethnographer and author - Bill Holm

The sample cards are hand sewn on the best quality hand made paper available internationaly. The paper was selected because it comes the closest to the texture and color of vintage brain tanned hide which most of the American Indian beaded objects were made from in pre reservation and early reservation times. The Art work is done by Bill Holm, Professor Emeritus of Art History, and Curator Emeritus of Northwest Coast Indian Art at the Burke Museum. Bill is recognized internationally as one of the most knowledgeable experts in the field of Northwest Coast Native art history as well as being an informed student of Plains, and Plateau Indian arts.

Click here for a Bill Holm Biography, Don't forget to watch the great lecture!

Bill cracked the code for Northwest Coast Indian Art with his seminal work titled "Northwest Coast Indian Art An Analysis of Form" originally published in 1965 it is still in print and as fresh as the day it was published.

Bead Card Set
Set of all eight sample cards in a fold over cover for $120 + shipping. Or purchase each card as indivuals for $10 plus shipping

Order now

Contact Information

Marie & Andrew Gussmann, PO Box 1995, Browning, MT 59417-1995
phone: 406-450-5876
mail: beadmatchbeads@gmail.com