Vinyl Heishi, Vintage Red, 7mm Diameter on 28-inch Strand

AFO-183

Regular price $15.00

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  • Vintage red vinyl heishi from Africa, 7mm diameter on 28-inch strand
  • Only one available
  • Red with some variations in color and a tiny bit of black and yellow mixed in 
  • I used Vinyl in the title, because that has become the common name for these beads, but there is no truth in widely publicized story they were made of recycled phonograph records.
  • They are an early form of plastic designed to imitate and/or expand on the types of heishi (clam, snail, ostrich egg and coconut shell) already popular in Africa at the time (at least 50 years ago)
  • The Bohemian bead producers were experts at this early "market research", sending intrepid agents to all parts of the continent to discover what beads people were using, and what they might like to see reproduced in more colorful glass or other materials.