• Handmade Powder Glass (“Coral”) Cylinder Beads from Ghana, Circa early to mid-1800s (Origin: Ghana; Collected: Ghana)
• Handmade Intricate Brass and Gold-Washed Raised Dot Beads from the Yoruba of West Africa, Circa early 1900s (Origin: West Africa; Collected: West Africa)
• Handmade Brass with Comb Design Ring or Pendant or Goldweight from Ethiopia or Ghana, Circa 1880s (Origin: Ethiopia or Ghana; Collected: Africa)
• Strung on Brown Leather Cord
• Length: 26”, 2” pendant

N0811-119: $345.00 $290.00  (free S&H)

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AFRICAN POWDER GLASS “CORAL”BEADS: The method of crushing glass into a very fine powder to reheat it so the particles fuse together dates back to some 1,000 years ago. The process begins with the fine crushed glass powder which is poured into clay molds, which have cells poked into them for the beads. At the bottom of each cell is a small depression into which the leaf stem of the cassava plant is placed. Once they are placed in crude oven and the fire is lit for about an hour, the glass coalesces and the cassava stems burn out, leaving perforations. When finished, the beads are shaken from the molds, cleaned and polished. These particular beads were made to resemble the African version of “coral”, Circa early to mid-1800s (Origin: Ghana, West Africa; Collected: Africa).

GILDED BRASS DOTTED BEADS: The Yoruba People of West Africa handcraft their jewelry by using the Lost Wax Method. The process involves sculpting or building a form in wax which is covered with successive layers of clay to make a mold. Molten metal is poured into the mold, melting the wax so it runs out through a hole which is left unplugged. After the metal sets, becomes solidified and is cooled, the mold is broken and the piece is removed, filed smooth, cleaned and polished. The Yoruba have produced extraordinary art work since the 5th century BC. These brass beads have been gilded, Circa early 1900s (Origin: West Africa; Collected: West Africa).

BRASS COMB PATTERNED RING, PENDANT, OR GOLDWEIGHT: This most unusual piece of jewelry or gold weight may be from Ethiopia or Ghana but was made using the Lost Wax Method. Ethiopians often made large jewelry pieces from brass for rings or pendants. Ghana gold weights and scales were used to measure gold and gold dust in trading with European merchants from the Ivory Coast and Islamic traders until the 1900s (Circa early 1900s, Origin Unknown, Collected in Africa) .
 

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