Gallery

Comments

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  SARAH CORBETT December 28, 2011 at 9:39am

  These striped beads are known as Kakamba, and are typical of Mauritanian and southern Moroccan use circa 1940

  S x
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  Stefany Tomalin December 28, 2011 at 10:36am

  the small oval swirled glass beads are from India- probably made around 1970s-80s.
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  SARAH CORBETT December 28, 2011 at 10:41am

  Hi Stefany,

  these looked Czech to me, can you explain the differences.

  Thanks

  Sarah
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  Stefany Tomalin December 28, 2011 at 12:48pm

  India yes we had kilos of them when i first opened my shop, which came from the cottage industries in India- they are handmade lampwork, the colours, (white with red, green, and a few with amber-like brown) and likely size are typical and i bet they had lots of white powder inside the holes. it always helps if some exact dimensions are given, of course...
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  Stefany Tomalin December 28, 2011 at 12:54pm

  whereas the white glass used in Czech bead production would be a much denser more opaque white and they made their shapes in general less irregular,  more uniform.
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  Linda Pastorino December 28, 2011 at 3:28pm

  this hair strap is definately before the 70's I can tell by looking at the beads they are older than that.  no powder in the holes at all on these ? Very smooth small shiny beads.  these beads are a quarter inch big or a bit smaller actually. The shells are a bit over a quarter inch round also.
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  Stefany Tomalin December 28, 2011 at 4:12pm

  that fits- we acquired lots of these beads that had already been stored for many years by another dealer who then sold off his stock. i may have a chance to illustrate with a pic of mine when i find the mobile camera...
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  Stefany Tomalin December 28, 2011 at 7:27pm

  i just looked to see what is online elsewhere under the name "Kakamba".

  most show Czech beads of 2 swirled glass colours but moulded into basic bead shapes- oblates, dice, drop shapes and the popular cylindrical slices.The often used name for them is Kakamba. They are each slightly different but are not individually handmade.

  The prevailing opinion seems to be that they were made in quantity in the early 20th C being popular in W. Africa.

  there is no direct connection with Prosser beads though they are sometimes threaded together.

  i posted a scan of a few examples i have left of my small Indian swirled ones which i am convinced match the ones used here.
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  Eva Baby December 28, 2011 at 10:48pm

  Lovely to see this headdress worn for the Guedra. Just love it!