| Original Message: "Aggrey Beads" |
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If one reads the copious literature related to "aggrey beads"—beginning with the first mention of "kori" beads in the 16th C., one will find a great deal of speculation—much of which is nonsensical, or a dead-end. The "coral" story is certainly one such suggestion. In post-Renaissance times, in several European languages, the words "pearl" and "coral" (in the context of glass beads) indicated, respectively, "a small bead," and "a large bead." Taking these names literally was a mistake made by quite a few writers. However, all this was basically explained by van der Sleen, Peter Francis, and myself, decades ago. The story of "kori" beads has a happy ending—because Kirk Stanfield and I collaoirated to "solve the problem"—which we did. Unfortunately, our exposition was refused publication. Our collaboration ended when Kirk refused to alter our paper—and I suggested we each write our own expositions—whereupon Kirk then published it online under the pseudonym "Kwesi Amanfrafo." All of this is old history now. JDA. All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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