Shell, "Hippo Teeth" Bead, Vintage, 60x40mm
SKU: ORS-166
Sale price
$12.00
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Only 1 in stock
Description
- Vintage, well used, large example of African "Hippo Teeth" beads
- 60x40mm drilled lengthwise, only one available
- These are actually made of large shells with grooves so they do look a bit like giant teeth, but not those of any hippos I've seen. Hippos have long fangs on either side of stumpy rounded teeth. We stayed well clear of them when waterskiing as kids in a Rwandan lake in the late 1960s!
- This bead was collected in Cote d'Ivoire in the early 1970s and recently re-discovered in my "beads for the Dictionary of Beads" stash. A similar one elicited squeals from kids exploring different kinds of shell beads at an educational Bead Identification exhibit Beadazzled hosted for a school.