  Glass seed beads probably are the most numerous group of art historical
glass. From the ancient times to the modern era, glass beads played an
essential role in culture, as they were used, e.g., to decorate clothing,
religious objects and functional tools, and served as an important good for
global trade. The conservation state of items made of glass beads is an actual
issue for curators and conservators. Glass, as well known, is often unstable
material, so a number of internal and external factors are responsible for
chemical and physical processes in glass and on the glass surface. It was
noticed that some types of historical 19th century glass beads are subjected to
more intense destruction than others. The samples of glass beads of different
colours and conservation states were examined by means of SEM-EDX, EBSD, Raman
and FTIR microspectroscopy. Research showed that some types of beads are
characterized by the presence of nano- and microcrystals in glass, which could
be one of the causes of glass destruction. The elemental composition of
crystals is different in each case and depends on raw materials and technical
components used for glass manufacturing. The structure of crystals was
identified by means of EBSD analysis.
