We carry a full line of African beads, both old African trade beads, and newer beads made or strung in Africa for the world-wide bead trade. Our African beads and art range from tiny seed beads and beaded Ibado wall hangings to giant amazonite stone beads and large wooden masks, with thousands of glass and natural material beads in between. Most trade beads come to us from Africa, where the bulk of the metal beads were made. Most of the glass beads were made in Venice, the Czech Republic (formerly Bohemia), India, or other countries around the world. (Kiffa beads are a notable exception.) Many are old and worn; others are recently made, quickly strung in Africa, and traded or sold around the world. As stores of nice old trade beads dry up, new trade beads are made to fill the voids. Inexpensive replicas of fancy large beads are often made in India. Faceted beads are often made in the Czech Republic (following the rich centuries-old tradition of Bohemian glass beads). Some Venetian glass beads, such as chevrons, have been made for centuries, and continue to be popular among collectors of old and new beads. By looking at the types of colors and the way the bead was made, an expert can often tell you which country, and which decade or era a particular bead was made. We're excited about having our trade beads on this Web site! Trade beads have always been tough to describe properly in a paper catalog. Online, we can use color photos of current stock, and it is much easier to quickly change pictures as the stock changes. For particularly unusual trade beads, we can even scan a whole strand, and e-mail you the picture. |
African/Trade Bead Sections:
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Questions? Please call us toll free in Canada or the
United States at 1 (800) 366-2156, or e-mail us.