Tiny 1-2mm antique Venetian White heart beads from the African Trade on 18-inch strands. Collected in West Africa early 1970s
Despite being plentiful in the US bead trade from the 1970s until the 2010s, the basic small strands are gettingveryhard to find. I spoke with dozens of African traders in Tucson this year, but nobody had any, or expected to see them again.
I'm sharing some of my stash at old prices, but when they are gone they're gone!
Named for their white core covered by a thin layer of translucent red glass, these beads were traded from Europe to every inhabited continent. Also known variously asCornaline d'Aleppofor their resemblance to carnelian beads coming east from India through Syria and Turkey, orHudson Bay Beadsbecause early settlers and Mountain Men in that area traded them to Native Americans for pelts.
Developed in the 1600s, and produced mostly in Italy, but later also in Bohemia (now Czech Republic) and France, they had a lovely soft red pomegranate or light burgundy color until selenium replaced gold in the mix in 1890s. Selenium gave them a much brighter, harsher red. Selenium was abandoned in the 1930s because it was more expensive than gold at that time, but by then the global bead trade was winding down and the gold price keeps rising, so it's safe to say that essentially all the softer red beads are pre-1900.
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