Please...Please....

I agree and he said that maybe I would be able to photograph them Saturday! Hint, you will see some of them for sure! (some didn't make it to Tucson)

Get these necklaces!!! I assure you that all kiffa is gone!!! All into personal collections!!! Two thousand five hundred is not too much for a full strand of Kiffa!!!!!

I agree!!! Send me about $25,000.00 right away and we'll go in on them together! :)
If you take me serious, .............Paypal my email address!
Thomas

The one I opted for has 90 Murakad/Kiffa beads and 15 small round Islamics. (There are at least 4 more I would get if finances permitted) and I am very picky when it comes to Kiffas!!!!
In answer to Steve's question:
Depending on the diameters of the smaller round beads I am guesstimating the other strands also have approximately 100 beads per.
I am also cautioning anyone interested in buying a strand to study each one very carefully....there are some with newer beads and some with very old beads! Study the quality of the patterns, the line count, the precision, the overall composition. I spent about 4 hours looking them over in an undisturbed setting (not possible in Tucson) and I can say that there are some extremely rare beauties on a few of the strands.
these strands were all bought by one collector from one seller over a period of 15 years or more....you can see the evolution of the "strands" (how their composition has changed over the years) by looking at them close and comparing. The "older" strands have about 10-15 polychrome triangular beads in most cases, undamaged to slightly undamaged condition. Watch out for the newer strands the larger beads are of a more modern manufacture but there are other "sleeper" beads mixed in amongst them. I could not afford to buy all I want from this collection but if I run into any of you that is interested when I'm there I will share my insights as to the best for the money! Now I've got to get back to work so I can afford the gas for my 1-1/2 hour drive to Tucson Saturday morning!!!
Thomas

plus the Islamics??? You buy in a totally different universe from me Thomas, but I want a fast plane to wherever that is. I just received some glorious new kiffa, well new old, oh hell, you know what I mean. I know I SHOULD put a price on them, but it is hard for me to. It's like if I were starving to death and all the restaurant had left was the $300 Fugu sushi...I would eat it and well, probably die, but I would not starve. If I could trade all my ancients for high quality kiffa I probably would. That maybe tells you how much I love them. If the guy is gonna leave Tucson with any of those strands please pass along my email. I would love to see what they look like. Here is a pic of a wonderful small triangle that I just received. The smallest I have seen. It has lovely overall wear but is intact. How does one tell if they have an old kiffa?? There are so many mysteries surrounding them. sm

The bead you show fits all of my criteria fo an "older" bead.
The glass has devitrified somewhat giving it a rough feel and look.
I love the way the design gets carried over on to the back of the bead, a true sign of higher craftsmanship! The smaller size is also way cool! Small triangles are very hard to find.
All in all this is a very nice bead and in it's heyday would have been a top quality Kiffa/Murakad. The surface texture is it's only detraction.
Thomas

LOADED QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am going to give you my take on what I consider the answer to this GRAND question to be.
Actual dates for these beads are not known so I won’t venture a guess right now.
By "older" I am typically referring to the manufacturing process that is the pinnacle of perfection regarding Kiffa/Murakad beads. For my explanations I will be using polychrome triangular as examples…. The lines are straight, crisp, solid, uniform, tiny, bold, and perfect, every detail is as good as it gets, etc.
The best way to see this is with a visual side by side display. I will in the near future do some more Kiffa postings to show what I am trying to explain.
The "older" more perfect beads seem like they were made by a master craftsman, individually designed and created in a painstaking process that must have taken hours or days for a single bead.
More knowledgeable bead researchers than I can explain the varied uses and conditions of wear for these beads but I believe they were not mass produced originally. Motives can be similar but you will be hard pressed to find any two identical (this of course does not apply to the simpler and plainer bracelet beads or the monochrome triangles etc.).
Newer in age, but not those we find being produced presently, are beads, that at a quick glance resemble the “older” beads. One must “get in tight” to examine the differences. The designs are still very pleasing to the eye and the colors are still “correct” (time constraints force this to be explained in the future). The lines are not as tight or crisp and they are much fatter than before. Some beads show a running or bleeding of one color into another, that, when viewed under magnification is just not a crisp as it should be.
Typically the shape can also be somewhat out of alignment. The lines tend to waver a bit. Someone who has never seen a great “older” Kiffa bead would assume these to be the “older” ones. These beads still fall under the heading of “real Kiffa/Murakad” bead and I don’t believe they were massed produced for the western market. In my opinion they are the “newer old” ones.
Now we go on to the “new” ones. These types are what we can expect to find in the marketplace today. The colors and craftsmanship are the first sign of new manufacture! Some lean towards a yellowish/orange color that is NOT correct by any stretch of the imagination. The beads look like blobs at times and the lines/designs are wavy, fat and bleeding all over! These are not the true Kiffa/Murakad beads true collectors love, they are “mass” produced for a western market. They have a place in collections for comparison or if one is inclined to study the evolution of these beads. I compare them to true Kiffas the same way I compare Star beads from India to Venetian Chevrons.
Please, these are some of my thoughts on this subject and not gospel, time won’t permit me to expand on this subject anymore right now and I speak much better with pictures anyway, which will come soon.
Thomas

Hi Thomas,

I largely agree with you.

Regarding the dating of murakad beads—like most beads, they are popularly considered to be rather older than is likely..., but few people say what and why (they think that).

Consider the glass colors. The typical beads routinely feature a bright opaque red glass that did not exist before about 100 years ago. I believe murakad beads to be, essentially, a 20th century art form. Their heyday was probably the 1920s. I expect that the beads broken down to powder, for decorations, were most likely colorful seedbeads, and perhaps molded glass beads from Czechoslovakia (that we see in these exact same colors—red, blue, yellow, etc.).

It would be interesting if less-colorful beads that could be presumed to be "earlier" were ever seen..., but to my knowledge they are not.

Jamey

Your explanation was interesting and instructive and right on the money! I believe that you are fast becoming a kiffa expert!!! Your advantage is that you own many exemples of kiffas which puts you in the position to study them and make comparisons!!! The older, almost, perfect kiffa, is quite rare!!! You can examine quite a few strands before you find that one bead that knocks you out because of its fine details and intricate designs!! You know that this bead was made by a master bead maker!! To really appreciate a bead like this , one must remember under what conditions it was made!!. In the desert, using the crudest tools. It is flabbergasting to know that these Mauritanian women can make such fine, straight lines! I admire thier skill so much! Here is an exemple of a fine kiffa. The picture does not do this bead justice! I've examined it in every way and it is wonderful!!! I would like to make a side comment about strands of kiffas! I own a strand that one forumite said is not strung in the typical way!!!!!! Many apparently do not know that kiffa strands that appear on the market are actually strung by African traders! My Mauritanian women friends DO NOT KEEP THEIR KIFFA ON A STRING!!! Each are individually hidden away and shown to very few non-Mauritanians!!!So, when you speak of what is typical or not, you should base your opinion on the number of strands of kiffa that you have seen that were actually put together by Mauritanian women!!!!!

Mauritanian women pay high prices for rare, ancient beads like Morfias. They break them in pieces to be able to give pieces to beloved relatives as heirlooms! These bead pieces are treasured by thier owners. The people believe that these beads have the ability to heal the sick! This necklace is composed of pieces of beads and disk shaped beads. Some of them have been smoothed so well that they appear to be complete!! It is unthinkable to these people to discard a bead because it is broken! I treasure this necklace because, I know it was very much treasured by the women that owned it before me!

The pendent is ancient Jet!

I feel almost silly asking this question, but I believe, so I will ask. My mom is in a lot of pain with compression fractures (from osteoporosis). I suppose I could take one of my beads, put it on a string and bring it to her, telling her to hold and carress it and that it will bring her strength and healing. The power of belief is far greater than the bead's actual ability to heal, I am thinking. What bead should I choose? Or, are there really some beads with some magical powers that I could (affordably) obtain for her? Thanks to anyone who cares to answer this, I know it sounds a bit silly.

I can't remember what they call them but this is a common practice in the Far East I hear. Mom's pearls seem to soothe her, she plays with them like "worry beads." As far as amber goes, I feel better just looking at a piece, watching the light shine through, creating that magical glow only amber can emit. sm

Hi Christine
It appears that the beads you show of portions of very old glass beads may have been remelted to get that liquid/smooth surface, as well as being redrilled. Does that seem likely?
I have a couple of redrilled small bits of old chevrons..
Stefany

I know they were redrilled but, I don't think they were re-melted! my problem is, it is so hard to get good reliable information out of these women! I had to literally spend hours sitting with them talking about everything but, BEADS, to get any info out of them! it takes a long time to win their confidence to even get them to show their beads!

You need not necessarily believe the stories, but you can look at the evidence in your hand
Stefany

I have heard good things about him!

He is a great guy!
He lives somewhere around Ohio, I mentioned to him that a few forumites where in his "home" vicinity. If anyone would like me to pass along your contact info, I would be happy to do so. Email me privately!
Thomas

Alaji Machina Kaira who has a space in the big tent, has 6 or more long strands of assorted old kiffa beads for sale also. I plan to go sometime next week, can't wait! Judy

Hey forumites,
My hotel has complimentary internet access (I just can't post pictures). A quick note from a broke bead shopper.....I did see the beads from Alaji you were referring to and picked up a few. Bully has the nicest most undamaged strands for about $3,500-$4,000, GULP!!! They are in great condition.
So many beads so little time and Money!!!
I will be back in Phoenix Tuesday evening and will start posting some photos then.
The weather is great!
I ran into Carl, Charles, Eliza, Bassem and dozens of the nicest bead dealers you can imagine.
CHINESE Chevrons that look like Venetian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! unreal!!!
I will report more later. Jamey, don't bother coming to the show, Carl bought everything already!! :)
Thomas