• Extremely Rare Handcrafted Drawn-Glass Teal “Tradewind or Majapahit” Beads, Circa 13th Century A.D. (Origin: India; Collected: Java)
• Handmade Powdered Glass “Coke Bottle” Colored Beads by the Krobo Tribe, Circa late 1800s (Origin: Ghana; Collected: Ghana)
• Handcrafted Sterling Silver Woven Basket Cylinder Beads from Hill Tribe of Northern Thailand
• Sterling Silver Slide Clasps
• Natural Greek Leather Cord
• Length: 16” – Adjustable

N0908-119: $325.00 (free S&H)

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TRADEWIND OR MAJAPAHIT BEADS: These distinctive teal opaque glass beads probably date as far back as 800 years ago or to the 13th Century A.D. and were made in India by a drawn-glass technique. Similar beads were exported, beginning in 200 B.C. and continuing up to the 17th Century A.D. They are called “Tradewind” Beads because they were found in archaeological sites by the Indian Ocean in East and South Africa and are believed to have arrived there in the ships of Arab, Indian, and Chinese traders who sailed with the monsoon winds and ocean currents. Tradewind or Majapahit Beads are also found throughout Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Java, Malaysia and Sumatra. A strand of similar Tradewind Beads are in the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York.

KROBO GLASS BEADS: These gorgeous “coke bottle” colored powdered glass beads are handcrafted by the Krobo People of Ghana, Africa. The process begins with glass, usually scrap bottles which are pounded or crushed into a fine powder. The glass is then 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 a cassava plant is placed. The powder is poured into the molds in various ways, depending upon the desired design. Once a couple of dozen molds are filled, they go into crude ovens and a fire is lit in it for about an hour. The glass coalesces and the cassava stems burn out, leaving a perforation. When finished, the beads are shaken from the molds, cleaned and sometimes polished.