| Original Message: Uniformity as result of good technology? |
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I could believe that the heat-treatment was done by someone with better technology for glass working than the Africans would have had - flat plates, ability to apply uniform heat & pressure, knowledge of slow cooling to avoid cracking the beads, etc. To get two beads lined up and fused together nicely, as these are, would have taken a bit of effort. To keep the two holes lined up, I think a mold with pins to hold the beads would have to be used. Another speculation - that someone saw the Africans re-working some beads in this manner, but crudely, and brought the information back to the bead makers in Europe, who saw a way to "upscale" some of the drawn beads that maybe were not selling as well as they'd like. All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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