African Trade Beads
African trade beads are handmade beads from West Africa, most of them Krobo glass from Ghana, made from powdered recycled glass fired in clay molds. This collection holds every African trade bead we stock: recycled glass, fused and painted Krobo glass, vintage Christmas beads and batik bone, in a range of finishes and shapes for bracelets, necklaces and earrings.
Appearance
Krobo glass beads are matte and slightly irregular, with a sandy, sugary surface from the powdered glass they are fired from, in opaque yellows, blues, greens, whites and browns and in striped, speckled and layered patterns. Painted Krobo beads carry floral or geometric designs applied with glass slip and refired. Fused glass beads are made from larger fragments melted together, so they are glossier and show the original glass colors. Vintage Christmas beads are small, bright, multicolored glass beads made in Ghana from recycled glass.
No two beads match, and strands vary in color and surface more than any gemstone strand, which is the point. Glass is about 5.5 on the Mohs scale, durable but able to chip at thin edges; bone is softer, around 2.5 to 3, and should be kept away from water and oils so the dye and the surface last. Everything here is handmade, and tool marks and bubbles are part of the material.
Formation and origin
These are made objects, not minerals. Glass beads reached West Africa through Saharan and Atlantic trade for centuries, and Venetian and Bohemian beads were exchanged for gold, ivory and, in the worst of that history, people, which is where the name trade beads comes from. The Krobo people of Ghana's Eastern Region were making their own glass beads from imported and recycled glass by the early 20th century, packing powdered glass into hand-formed clay molds, firing them in wood-fueled kilns and grinding the beads smooth on stone. Batik bone beads are made mainly in Kenya and Ghana.
Pairings
Ruby zoisite beads: green, red and black stone beside matte Krobo glass, both busy with pattern and similar in hardness.
Amethyst beads: a clear purple that gives the opaque, earthy glass a jewel accent.
Black onyx beads: plain black spacers calm a strand of mixed Krobo colors and take the wear.
Meaning and Metaphysical Beliefs
Trade beads have long carried meaning in West Africa. Krobo beads are worn at the Dipo rite that marks a girl's coming of age, given at births, weddings and funerals, and read as signs of wealth and status, with certain colors and patterns kept for particular occasions. They were once currency, and old strands are kept as family heirlooms. These are traditional beliefs, not claims of physical effect.
