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Piney Hollow's Bead Museum |
Rare and Collectible Beads
Beads have been traded as money, exchanged for huge tracts of land, used to purchase slaves, collected as items of value and incorporated into arts and crafts since prehistoric times. The intrinsic beauty of beads, old and modern, still fascinates collectors and artisans.
This web site presents the fascinating history and lore of collectible beads from around the world and features a sampling of beads from Piney Hollow's bead museum and retail store catalog. The beads are categorized according to the regions and cultures in which they were traded or produced. |
The Diggers (detail) original work = 5 x 5 inches.
Go to the Gallery page to see the full image and
learn more about bead art.
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A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
TO COLLECTIBLE BEADS:
History and Manufacture
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF BEADS:
Cro Magnon and modern humans were not the first to adorn themselves with ornamentation. Those distant limb sitters on the tree of evolution, the Neanderthal, carved animal teeth and bones then grooved and wrapped them to hang from a sinew cord. This was around 38,000 bc. The first Cro Magnon decoration was 7,000 years later. It too was grooved for hanging. Holes drilled into beads for stringing didn't appear for another 3,000 years.
Going back to these periods, beads have been found in Russia, The Czech Republic, India, China, Korea, Africa, Iraq, Iran, Australia, North America, South America, France Spain, Italy, Libya and many other places. They were used for hunting power, spiritual meaning, beauty, wealth, personal identity and protection.
Eye beads, made with circles or eyes for protection, are found among every culture that has worn beads.
Bead content, design and style signals a person's individuality. Bead design signifies a pattern of the culture of its origin. Beaded items and the way colors and patterns have
been set are evidence of conceptual thinking that can be dated back to at least 31,000 bc.
Lapis Lazuli from Afghanistan was in Egyptian jewelry by 3,000 bc indicating the existence of prehistoric trade routes. Glass beads were found on the jewelry of Tutankhamen dating to 1,362 bc. Phoenician sailors carried glass beads throughout their explorations and trading areas.
Roman glass beads were primarily made in the colony of Rumania just before and shortly after the time of Christ and traded most particularly in North and West Africa.
The Venetian empire was largely built on the bead trade. It resulted in an illustrious industry for the Venetian island of Murano.
During the expansionist period of the Dutch empire, Dutch artisans developed a bead making commerce, with attempts to compete against the Venetians. A Dutchman, beginning the industry now famous throughout the world, transported equipment and knowledge to the Sudetanland (Czech Republic).
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GEOGRAPHY AND BEADS
Collectible beads are often named after the area in which they are best known for having been traded in.
For example, the highly decorative glass "African" beads were used in Africa
as money for every day items, but
they were also traded for expensive commodities including land
and slaves. Actually manufactured in Venice,
they were also traded in other places, including the western hemisphere.
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"AFRICAN" BEADS
One type of "African" bead
is the "chevron" bead. A modern chevron bead is pictured here. Chevron and certain other glass beads are generally called "African" beads
because they were used there as currency in trade. They were (and still are) produced in Venice, as early as the 16th century. They were part of the Venetian trade throughout the Mediterranean, Europe and beyond. They became very popular in Africa and both North and South America.
Chevron beads were originally manufactured by a secret process that was jealously guarded by the Venetians. Strict laws with severe penalties were enforced against anyone who revealed the process. Today, chevron beads are still made in Venice, but the secret is out and they are now also produced by Americans and East Indians.
"Feather" beads are highly favored for their delicate appearance. They were made
in Venice and were very popular with African tribal cultures during colonial times, when they were used for currency.
When African countries became independent of colonial governments, they went to a cash economy and these
beads were dumped on the market. They were also traded by native Americans in North and South America in the mid-1800s. Feather beads now come to the US through African traders from Gambia and Mali, but they are becoming rare because many African countries have trade embargos on them.
"Milifiore" beads ("thousand flowers"..... pronounced in English as 'mili-fee-ori') are of Venetian origin and were extensively traded into west Africa. Demand was high for them in the mid-1800s. They are still made, but modern beads are more refined and of less interest to collectors.
See more
African beads and catalog of Piney Hollow's collection. |
"LATIN" AMERICAN BEADS
The blue "Nueva Cadiz" style bead (42mm in length) is pictured with Peruvian pre- Columbian shell beads, were brought to the New World from Spain in the period beginning with Columbus and ending around 1560. This bead is part of a strand [link to strand on SA page] that may have been brought to the new world during the reign of Pizaro. The beads are
named "Nueva Cadiz" because they were stored on Nueva Cadiz Island.
Ecuadorian "Spindle" beads were used to spin cotton and Llama hair, these carved beads can be dated from 1,500bce to 1,500ad. Made by two different tribal groups, the designs are either geometric or fanciful fauna.
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"NORTH" AMERICAN BEADS
This "Lewis and Clark" bead illustrates a style carried by Lewis and Clark for trade on their expedition to the Pacific Northwest. These glass
beads were made in Venice from the earliest years of
the 1800's and have also been traded in West Africa. Africans refer to them as |
EUROPEAN AND ASIAN BEADS
"Eye"Beads depicting eyes have been made for thus-ands of years and
have been used in various cultures. They all have basically the same meaning.
The "Thousand Eye" or "Evil Eye" beads shown here
(diameter = 10mm) and have been a staple trade
item since the middle of the 1800's. The "eye" bead is a world-wide design and is worn to ward off evil. Psychologists theorize that the "function" of these beads
derives from the common human characteristic of being unable to lie or do harm to others while looking them in the eye. These (Venetian)
beads are common and are on the lower ring of collectibles.
Roman Eye:
Made in the Rumanian colony before
and during the time of
Christ, the eyes are a
design feature to ward off evil. Today, these beads
are
found mostly in ancient middens.
Indus River:
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MORE ABOUT FUSED GLASS BEADS:
Fused glass beads were were popular in certain earlier cultures for trading. They were both colorful and durable, as is demonstrated by their good condition after four centuries. Their value was determined by the number of layers of glass they contained. You can count 5 layers in the chevron bead pictured below (each color is a different layer).
The processes for manufacturing the glass beads are inter-e sting. Following is a brief explanation of how chevron and milifiore beads are
made.
Chevron beads have been made from the 1500's to present day in Venice.
Glass rods are bundled together to make a design. The bundle is then heated until the rods fuse. While
still soft, these bundles can
be drawn or stretched out, making the rod diameter smaller to meet the size required for the design.
After cooling, the single rod is cut to length and ground down
to make the combinations of colors show up at the ends
of the beads in the familiar star patterns.
Milifiore beads, including those that were used in African Trade, are produced by fusing thin glass rods together to form intricate designs. After fusion, the rods are broken away to leave small flower-like patterns. A core of glass is then formed and, when
very soft, it is rolled over
the small flower pieces. Then, the entire bead is
again heated to absorb the flowers into the finished bead.
As soon as fused glass bead making techniques were discovered, Venice enacted harsh laws to
protect the secret process. Other trading countries
were eager to learn how to make them and there were 16th century equivalents
of commercial spy organizations to enhance competition.
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Visit us during the
Tucson Gem and Mineral Show
If you plan to attend the 2007 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show,
be sure to visit our retail store on 4th Avenue.
We are near the downtown area and other gem show sites.
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