18x30mm with one big check and many smaller ones attesting to it's long hard life
I used to reject these glass faux amber beads when I would occasionally find one on a strand of African Amber, but today I realize they are even more rare and collectible than the beads they were imitating!
From the mid-1800s to early 1900s many European countries were competing (by fair means and foul) for a share of the African bead trade. Bohemian beadmakers had many successes, but imitating amber wasn't one of them.
The phenolic resin "African Amber" beads have continue to increased in value over the years while the glss amber imitations sank into obscurity, of interest only to collectors today. I actually like this example because it chips and scratches (mostly on the other side) show that it was worn, traded, and widely traveled before making it here, ready to take a rest in somebody's collection.
Only one set like this available
Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic) was a prolific maker and exporter of glass beads for the African trade from the 1850 to about 1900.
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