1) Thanks for the compliments! I would like to know the second error you found in the article - as you mentioned only one (the inclusion of Mali in the Magrheb) when we talked in Tucson.
2) L.V. Redman started to file patents around 1911 for PF materials, in direct competition to the Baekeland patents (initially awarded in 1909). Redman founded or was the main chemist at the Amberoid Chemical Products Co. and the Redmanol Chemical Products Co., both in Chicago. Redman's companies produced PF resin products until he essentially lost patent challenges by Baekeland and both these companies (and their products) were taken over by the Bakelite Corp. in 1922. One of the PF products was called Redmanol.
I guess it's possible that products that were identified as Redmanol (rather than Bakelite or the many other trade names listed in my article) made their way to N. Africa. I tend to doubt it. Could the term "redman" instead refer to the red colors that yellow PFs take on if heated to various degrees? The Moroccan you were dealing with may know that real amber is seldom a dark red color and that red beads are likely to be old plastic and therefore less valuable. I don't have enough experience with darker colored or reddish amber beads to know if they are unusual in that part of the world, and exactly how their color would compare to the red shades of PF.
3) One of the weaknesses of being an "arm-chair" researcher is that I have to rely on the observations (or lack thereof) of people who collected the PF beads from the original owners. I don't have any timeframe for the carved beads - the collection on the cover was purchased "bead-by-bead" in Mauritania from women who wore them as hair ornaments, according to the collector / seller. Until I find more documentation, I am assuming all PF beads found in Africa are post- WWII.
I am currently working on translating some documents that describe natural amber beads made for the African trade, starting in the late 1800s. So it is safe to assume that amber beads were going to Africa from Europe (specifically East Prussia) and it would not be a stretch to assume that imitation amber beads (of all types - glass, early plastics, etc) were also sent to Africa in the same general time period. But I have not found any documentation of the PF imitations going to Africa before about 1950.
In fact one reference from 1951 said that PF beads were being sent to Africa because real amber beads were impossible to get any more. After East Prussia was taken over by the Russians during the war, they kept the amber production for their own purposes, and the Prussian amber workers that fled to the west eventually ran out of amber stockpiles that were hastily gathered and moved to new facilities.
This is an admittedly sketchy picture of the situation and it needs a lot more evidence before being firmed up.
The article is too good to focus on tiny "mistakes". Instead we should value everything you dug up and presented as a convincing read.
It would be of (my personal) interest to know how the work, how the carving was done in detail - where, when and how, with the help of what kind of tools, they have been able to create this (often very intricate) PF-beads?
I personally believe this work was done in Mauritania for the most part. Most likely in the few pockets of Berber (Zenaga/Sanhaja) settlements in the country, possibly by the same folks that crafted the carved shells.
Sarah Corbett from a Facebook post, June 2016:
"I have some history on these mysterious beads! Made by one nomadic family in Mauritania called Lmalem . They travelled between Boutelamin, Kiffa and Nouakchott making these carved beads for the weddings of high status B'than Maure families. The family would supply the beads and have them carved. Originally done with Amber beads, but those would break, so since 1940 only French Amber ( Bakelite) was used. Name in Mauritania is Muhafen Luban. Meaning improved Amber. (source of the information is a Mauritanian friend from the region)."
I think that you have commented before that L'malem is the term used for silversmiths or metal (jewelry?) workers in general. The other interesting thing in Sarah's comment is that these beads possibly date only from the 1940s. This dating would indicate that PF beads reached Mauritania only since the onset of WWII - possibly in response to a disruption in the natural amber bead trade? Lots of unanswered questions.
One new development on my end is that it seems one of the carved beads I have may be natural amber, since it fluoresces under black light. I need to take apart the necklace and do more tests to be sure, since some plastics fluoresce.
Interesting!
The name Lmallem is most definitely not their real family-name, but a nickname, pointing towards their profession.
The name of the town is BOUTILIMIT (see my map in previous post), a main Berber settlement and a centre for local crafts (Muraqat, tent-mats, shells etc.).
One question is: Who of the family did this PF-beads? The men or the woman? There is usually a strict devision between the two: While men work all hard materials (iron, gold/silver, wood, shell, stone) woman work soft materials (Muraqat, fabric, leather, mats etc.). Resin falls into the first group and is therefore most likely male work!
What is mentioned here as "B'than Maure families" refers to the "BEIDAN" - the white and noble Maures (beidan = white). It is a known tradition that customers deliver the materials for whatever they want to get done (by the "Mallem" - the Saharan [silver-]smith), all materials actually, may it be metals, leather or as obviously here, the resin beads for carving.
What surprises me is the information that noble families (the "Beidan" in other words) should have been the customers of carved resin beads. It might very well be so, but usually the Beidam prefer gold, Morfia and other ornaments of more precious and costly materials.
The design-variations of the PB-Beads indicate that not a single "Mallem", but various Mallem-families, were engaged in the work of resin-bead carving. No Mallem (or Mallema - his wife) was engaged in only one kind of work. The Mallem did it all - the iron tools for farming, knifes, the silver-work for bracelets, rings and amulets and basically everything else his customers desired. A universal talent, the Saharan handyman!
The Mallem - of ancient Jewish descent, as older sources insist - held a very special position within the Beidan family, he was attached too. Feared for his "magic work" with fire on one hand, and needed and desired for his qualities as a craftsman.
Whole books were written about the "Mallem", his descent, his abilities and his social position within the tribal Saharan (and elsewhee in Africa) fabric.
