i finally found an image of a tabletop filled with examples of different traditional beadwork from mostly E. Africa constructed entirely with European-made embroidery beads all slightly varied oblate shapes, not uniform-
the beads were shipped out by the ton by traders and there are many Venetian sample cards that record which colours were favoured by which peoples.
in my image are strips as belts, beads on wires that hold their shape, wound around fat cores or stitched onto hide,