African bead
If you love beads, African beads are for you, The wide variety of exquisite beads in Africa is so much part of the native culture that one can easily trace the history of the continent with African beads. African beads continue to fascinate Africans and attract connoisseurs from around the globe. Proof enough, the rising demand for a variety of African beads is etching a special place in the present world jewelry industry. The African bead has represented the rich cultural heritage of the continent. Symbols of royal regalia, beads were found to be buried in the tombs of kings as their most cherished jewelry possessions for as far back as 12,000 years. Besides, there is sufficient evidence to prove that beads were used to barter ivory, gold and for human lives during the slave trade in Africa. How African beads attained such diversified status and have remained objects of desire throughout the world is a fascinating story. The first bead made in Africa is learnt to be created from special soft clay called faience, which is usually vivid blue or dusky green. Faience tubes and beads were woven into elaborate collars for deceased royalty and buried with kings in Egyptian tombs. Meanwhile, research also suggests that ostrich egg shells were being used as beaded ornaments in Africa long before the faience.
By the turn of the fourth century European, Indian and Middle Eastern traders were arriving across the Sahara and brought with them caravans of glass and stone beads. This is where it all started. Beads had become the centre of business for traders approaching the African continent. All along, the king's families wore special beads called "royal beads" which commoners were forbidden from wearing. These rare beads were hand carved of jasper and carnelian, mostly imported from India. Clever imitations of royal glass beads were being made by the commoners as far back as 17th century. During the 16th century, Portuguese introduced coral beads that were worn as costumes and jewelry. Over the centuries, the glass beads diversified in styles and forms. They were being used as collars, pectorals, belts, sandals, stitch on clothing, and even on funerary ornaments. Although Egypt, the powerhouse for raw materials, developed a large-scale industry of beads, beads were crafted in nearly every corner of the country. Thus a great diversity was created in the beads. Tastes and bead making styles were different from tribe to tribe. This resulted in the need to increase the production capacity and techniques of manufacturing. The glass beads have evolved both in popularity and technique. Bead varieties such as Kiffa, Bodom Zulu beads, Ndbele beads, Cameroon, Kirdi/Fulani, Kuba, Maasai, Ndebele Yoruba, Xhosa beads, and Bida beads flourished at one time. Some varieties have almost died out now even as some old women are struggling to revive the bead making art here.
The Venetian glass-bead industry dominated the world market until the twentieth century. In Africa, the Venetian glass beads continued to gain popularity with the revival of ancient techniques such as that of the millefiore or mosaic beads originating from Western Asia. The Venetian glass makers made millefiore with techniques that were a combination of several sections of colored rods. This combination is then heated and fused together. The technique is still being used in the present day with a great variation of motifs on beads. The beads can be classified according to their technique of fabrication such as winding, drawing, winding and drawing, molding, pressure molding, etc. These fabrication techniques originated from beads of mosaic from occidental Asia and have now been diversified. The indigenous Kiffa beads are hugely popular even till date. They are usually handmade in villages in the south of Mauritania. Its surface is more granulose and the Kiffa beads that we see today are rather thin but better in quality. The Kiffa bead has six different shapes such as Triangular, circular, conical, lozenge, hemispheric and cylindrical,all have variations in the fabrication techniques. In Africa, beads still mean a way of living. Their colors combined with geometric forms demonstrate symbolic meanings and moods. The richness of an ornament reflects the social status of the person wearing it and is said to allow protection from the spiritual powers.
There is no dearth for the African bead craftsmen in the continent. This notwithstanding, several organizations working towards conservation of bead culture in Africa and around the world are of the opinion that bead making as an art itself is under-appreciated. Efforts to revive the bead culture are stepping up, but perceivably on a small scale. While there are women outside Africa who fancy African beaded ornaments, many have shown interest even in other beaded merchandise such as beaded artifacts, beaded Christmas ornaments, serving ware, clothing and footwear. African beads are not so expensive. The cost depends on the size, color and the complexity of motifs on the beads. Now with the popularity of African beads gradually gaining ground in the rest of the world, the number of people who appreciate bead work and African bead making seems to be increasing steadily. And that is good news for the continent.
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