The Power of Beads
venice-
island glass
The last 200+ years, typically now made in Murano by a method known as "winding." Drawn one by one by a molten glob of glass out of the furnace and twirling it around an iron rod. Glass of another hue added, or decorated with a design. The metals then added on: cobalt made blue; copper turns green; tin made milky white; and gold rusted in red. Glass crafters of the world so perfected, can hard to find a seam where the different layers of glass merge. Another method was blown glass; glob of gooey glass was removed from the glory hole (that is the name of the fire) + blowing through more class — the shape of a vase begins to take. Once European countries started travelling the world, ship captains and explorers carried beads made of glass, porcelain, and metal as gifts, or trade for fur. Winding beads now too slow for new demand. Around 1490, Venetians started to pull tubes drawn from glass; adopted from Egypt. Globs form cylinders. Channelled + shaped, rods are attached to the cylinder. Extra hands take the end of the rod and run down a long corridor to cool it down. About a 100 + 20 meters long. The length + amount used determine the size. Once the tubes cool, then cut meter by meter, then into various sizes. Into a large metal drum with lime, carbonate, sand, carbon, and water, turned, + heated from the outside in to smooth each rough-cut edge. Once smooth, into a sack of fermented bran and shaken with vigor to polish. Monochromatic strands of today are not much different from those made 500+ years ago.
ghana-
tribal glass
African beads were first produced as a form of currency for native inhabitants all across the continent of Africa centuries ago, and are now appreciated world wide by thousands of bead collectors, wearers, and enthusiasts. What draws people to trade beads is not only their elegance and beauty in craft, but the experience and history that comes along with each bead. While African bead makers continue to create new beads today, many of the items we offer have traveled long distances and years of existence to arrive where they are today.
Goods + services traded for beads, not only but especially in West Africa. Ivory, gold, people, and spice all in demand by admirers + colonials alike. As currency, it’s Mint split between Venice + Bohemia, the secrets of glass made + guarded secret. The demand stemmed from cultural value of African decoration. Some of the finest throughout time. Indicating status, passed to future generations for symbol + wealth. Even our very own was traded for beads. The beginning mix of the Old World + the New. Legend says, the Dutch purchased Manhattan from the Native tribes for $27 worth of trinkets + beads. Also taking form as Chevrons, Dogons ,Vaseline Beads, + Russian Blues. Don’t forget Skunk. Since Chris Columbus, trade beads have been used + created to barter the Old World from the New. Later, Spanish explorers and European fur traders and American explorers such as Lewis and Clark used Trade Beads to facilitate interactions with local peoples and to procure goods. Of the most celebrated design is the Millefiori in Venice, named of flowers. The methods used to make these and other beads are a testament to the innovation of Venetian artisans. Using powdered glass to make African Kiffa. Today, all prized for their legacy + rich aesthetic. Highly regarded in African culture all along, the West grows in gratitude + infatuation..
bohemia-
Cottage glass
By the 1500’s, the demand for glass beads reached the point Venetians were sending drawn glass tubes to Bohemia. There the glass tubes were broken into beads, polished, and sent back to Venice. The Bohemians took it from there. Possessing the reputation as one of the world's leading manufacturers, Czech begins to lend hands to the global beads. The success , however, is a result not of big factories and stores, but of cottage artisans. Families would set up glass beadmaking in cottages by the masses.
morocco -
market shells
On 5th June, 2007, the bead world was rocked by news of a minuscule 12-bead find in Taforalt, Eastern Morocco. Unusually well preserved with distinguishable red ochre patinations, the beautiful shell beads uncovered by archaeologists from the Moroccan Institute of Natural Sciences and Oxford University would quickly cement the North African country as one of the earliest bead-making cultures in the world. According to experts, the Moroccan shell beads date back in excess of 80,000 years, making them the second oldest find after those found in Skhul, Israel, during the 1930's.
Moroccan beads have both fascinated and intrigued bead collectors from around the world since the 18th Century. Natural beads made from amber and agate are discernibly popular among Western cultures, since both minerals are regarded semi-precious. Moroccan beads made from tree resin beads are also a popular export and are thought to have been an early form of currency, used by merchants plying trade via Trans-African routes. As trade ties grew in the 18th Century, Morocco saw a proliferation of beads flood into the country via capital city Marrakesh, including the ambiguous European trade beads that would later inspire Moroccan creativity.
Descended upon by hordes of bead collectors each year, the souks (markets) of mystical Marrakesh are a haven of exotic bead finds, both vintage and modern in appeal. Striking silver-lined beads with beautiful facets of glass or semi-precious stone are some of the most popular, not least because of a history intertwined with the Islamic faith. Moroccan prayer beads are characteristically similar to those of Ethiopia in that they are predominantly symmetrical in design and finish, however, the Moroccan variants are characteristically ornate
