When you look at African Trade Beads in all their vibrant, colourful glory, do you ever wonder about their history? So accustomed are we to the cheaper, replica trade beads re-produced in many countries, that we don’t bother questioning authenticity – and yet so many of us seek out “vintage” beads for modern fashion accessories or collecting.
Recent fashion revivals have included tribal and ethnic couture – designs inspired by symbolic jewelry, worn by great African and Asian tribes to signify social rank, marital status or traditional values. Cheap reproductions can significantly compromise the vintage aesthetics of a quality piece, how do determine whether antique African trade beads are authentic vintage or reproduction?
African Trade Beads
If you are new to jewelry-making or bead collecting, you may be a little “in the dark” when it comes to gauging the quality and authenticity of antique African Trade Beads.
Ingrained dirt or an excessively dusty appearance
The most obvious signs of age are ingrained dirt or an excessively dusty appearance. Most African Trade Beads are also sold by the string. Many of these have belonged to multiple owners, sometimes over centuries, particularly Venetian trade beads which were created in Venice and traded in Africa.
African trade beads come from rural areas in Africa. These beads are not mass produced in sparkling clean factories like most other beads are in China and India. They are made in rural villages and towns throughout Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya, outside, in the sun, with no building to protect them from dust winds and harsh weather.
They have traveled long distances. Beads such as Hebron trade beads have traveled at the very least, 8,000 miles from Sudan to California, but likely much more as most experts suggest they were originally made in Hebron, Palestine.
What does “as sourced,” mean?
Antique beads are often sold “as sourced,” meaning they may well once have been the adornment of a tribes-person, or were strung as a “set currency” with which to do trade. But it can also mean the seller is just repeating what the person who sold them to him said, and he doesn’t really know for sure if it’s accurate, or how old they are.
Another characteristic feature is within the design of individual beads. Those with uneven, or non-symmetrical patterns are more likely to be authentic. Modern stamping techniques tend to produce an even finish, with a pattern that “fits” the bead. Antique beads tend to be hand-painted.
Weight of the African Beads
Old African Trade Beads tend to be far heavier than modern replicas simply due to the differences in production prior to the 19th Century. Wound beads, such as the Green Old Annular Wound Dogon Beads are a prime example of this. Wound beads were produced by the heating of glass, which was then wrapped around a wire or rod and guided into shape with the use of stones or wood.
Modern replicas tend to be made using moulds or glass-blowing, with the assistance of machinery. Old wound beads tend to be heavier, as the winding process utilized far greater quantities of molten glass.