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Description: | Drawn bead with cylindrical central perforation. Opaque white core, cased in opaque red, cased in opaque white and cased in translucent blue. The inner layer form star patternss. Diameter is roughly Cylindrical, but upper and lower surface are not straight. Some signs of wear. Small bubbles visible especially on the upper and lower surface. Slight milky weathering.InterpretationThis bead belongs to a large group of beads known as 'Chevron' beads. They were produced in Venice in a number of Conterie workshops, such as Vaccari on Murano, but some variation were also produced in the Netherlands. Typical for a Chevron is the star pattern that should be visible in section and the should continue all through the bead (there are copies, that have the star pattern painted or trailed on).The number and colours of the different layers vary, from 3 to 10, the most common 4-6 layers ending in translucent blue dating from the early 19th century to the mid 20th century, from the 1990s onwards a number of African and Indian workshops are experimenting with copying the beads.There are two popular shapes, one is long cylindrical with beveled edges, allowing the layers to be seen from the side. These can reaches up to 90mm in length and 60 mm in diameter, although 2-3 cm and c.10 mm wide is more common. A second a short cylinders, with very straight edges. Uneven edges such as the one here suggests that this is a fragment of a larger long cylindrical bead. The wear on the upper and lower surface suggests that this was either sanded down or has worn smooth at some point in its history.Chevron beads are found from the 15th century onwardsChevron beads were exported all over the world and can be found in America, Asia and Africa. Especially in Africa, where they are known as Bakim-Mutum, these beads are thought to be imbued with power in some West African tribes and are used as symbols of Chieftainship or Kingship or as talismans for witch-healers, esp. the old y beads, therefore, represent quite high values, and reworking of broken beads into new beads or pendants is not unusual.As they also are quite desirable to Western collectors, it cannot be ruled out that the reworking may have happened to raise the financial value of a broken bead. The Chevron beads are, however, not restricted to Africa, but can be found all over the world
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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