• Antique Oval Piece of Light Green Jade purchased at Jade Market in China, Circa early 1900 (Origin: China; Collected: China)
• Handcrafted Venetian Glass “King” Trade Beads, Circa late 1800s (Origin: Venice; Collected: Africa)
• Handmade Powder Glass “Coke Bottle” Colored Beads from the Krobo People, Circa late 1890s (Origin: Ghana; Collected: Ghana)
• Handcrafted Sterling Silver Fluted Melon Beads from Bali
• Sterling Silver Cord Slide Clasps
• Dark Brown Greek Leather Cord
• Length: Adjustable

N0908-136: $165.00 (free S&H)

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JADE PENDANT: The history of Jade is as long as the Chinese civilization. Archaeologists have found jade objects from the Neolitic Period (about 5,000 B.C.) in certain regions of China. Jade symbolizes beauty, nobility, perfection, constancy, power, and immortality in Chinese culture and has had a special significance, comparable with gold and diamonds in the West.

AFRICAN/VENETIAN TRADE BEADS: The term “Trade Beads” typically applies to beads made predominately in Venice, Bohemia and other European countries from the late 1400s through the early 1900s and traded in Africa and the Americas. The heyday of this “trade”period was from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s when millions of these beads were traded for gold, palm oil, pelts, spices and slaves. The Venetians dominated this market and produced the majority of these beads. The popularity of these beads was revived in the late 1960s when they began to be exported from Africa into the U.S. and Europe. As the popularity and availability of these old beads grew, they started getting “named”, such as King Beads, Whitehearts, etc. And today, these “Trade Beads” are more popular and collectable than ever. Thousands of these beads are in private collections around the world. The African Traders are having to go deeper and deeper into Africa to find more of these beads and many styles which were readily available just 5 years ago are no longer seen today.

KROBO GLASS BEADS: These gorgeous “beer 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.