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Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade.....
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Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:17:20

The discussion with Will last month has kept me thinking about the Black Sea glass bead trade. There is obviously quite a bit more to it than first meets the eye. As we discussed, there are some obvious differences in color and style when compared to beads from Mediterranean sources of similar time periods. Some of these seem to be more crudely constructed than the Mediterranean counterparts, while others are at the same if not a higher level depending on the time period and source location.

So, I decided to go back through my old catalogs and come up with as many beads as I could that I was reasonably sure came from Black Sea sources, especially those most likely to have been made in the region.
This is such a fascinating region and one of the earliest crossroads of trade in any form. Between the Silk Road trade and the Baltic amber trade, the Black Sea region has been in the middle of it all from the Bronze Age (or earlier) onward as far as trade and culture clashes go. I won't try to go into a detailed history, there are many great articles on the internet and in some great old books for those of you that still use antiques such as hard cover books.

With the recent political upheaval in the region collectors are likely to see a lot more material on the marketplace. Hopefully it will be helpful to see a variety of beads that are known to be authentic. The pictures below do not follow any particular order, so I will try to identify them as I go.

Happy collecting, and please feel free to comment or critique,
Jan Skipper, Mosquitobay

Catalog #4860. The first group shown below (found together) are a lovely semi-translucent blue, in several shapes including a rather large flattened oval type, about 12 x 17 mm in size. These came from the eastern Black Sea region to the best of my knowledge and date from the mid to late first millennium AD.

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Catalog #6693 & 6694 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:19:03

The next 2 groups also came from the eastern Black Sea region, but are opaque with some faceted shapes and small biconal shapes with decorative lines. They are smaller in size about 3 to 9 mm in diameter with the longest beads being about 19 mm in length. These probably date to the early first millennium AD, or about the Roman era. Some of these are a very good facsimile of lapis lazuli and may have been intended for that purpose.

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Black Sea Trade
Re: Catalog #6693 & 6694 - Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Timbuk-2 Post Reply
04/15/2017, 11:51:38

I have only one such a blue bead, though mine is slightly different. Possibly smaller with only 12mm from hole to hole, but with lozenge shaped design on each of the four sides.

What puzzles me - REALLY-REALLY puzzles me - are the very exact shapes of this four decorations. I would not know how to explain this, if the bead were contemporary, but how was such a precision (in glass) possible
~2000 years ago and what was the technique to apply the diamond shapes?

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Catalog #5966 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:20:44

This unusual red bead with spiral impressed or cut lines has applied eyes and was found the Crimean peninsula, or "the Crimean" as I believe it is usually referred to. It is about 18 mm x 13 mm in size and dates from about 800 to 1100 AD, possibly earlier (?). This may be one of the more complex beads that I have seen from this range of types.

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Catalog #5967 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:22:16

Already shown in another post, this beautiful opalescent donut shaped bead from the Crimean is about 25 x 13 mm in size and is thought to date from the same time period as #5966. It does not have a particular pattern around the hole like seen in Jurgen's similar example.

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Catalog #4096 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:23:47

This short string of rather crudely made beads was found north of Kiev along one of the known trade routes to the Baltic Sea. It is only my presumption that it might be from the Black Sea trade, but it seems logical doesn't it? They are about 3 to 11 mm in size and date from about 800 to 1100 AD, or what is sometimes referred to as the Viking era in the Baltic Sea region. It is noticeable that many of the types we are seeing as Black Sea beads also appear in Viking trade hoards or grave finds. The north-south route through the Black sea was a known route for Viking era traders.

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Catalog #4096
Re: Catalog #4096 - Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Timbuk-2 Post Reply
04/15/2017, 09:20:45

Very interesting, wonderful beads, Jan. Incredible color/s!



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Catalog #4763 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:25:15

This gorgeous 19-inch long string is a combination of iridescent gold and amber colored glass beads mixed with "gold-in-glass" and what appears to be "silver-in-glass beads". This group was supposedly restrung in the same configuration as it was originally found along the eastern Black Sea. The beads are from about 6 to 9 mm in size and are believed to date from around the late first millennium BC during the Phoenician trade era (or possibly a bit later). The quality of these beads is quite remarkable, were they Black Sea or Mediterranean in origin?

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Catalog #5965 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:26:35

Here is another group that was found in the Crimean. The largest beads are about 10 x 20 mm and date to the mid to late first millennium AD. These are no longer in my collection so I cannot study them further, but if I recall they were sort of a coarsely made tan-white glass coated with a thin brick red overlay. They remind me of the later European so-called "green-heart" beads.

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Catalog #5965
Re: Catalog #5965 - Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Timbuk-2 Post Reply
04/15/2017, 09:22:40

I own quite a few of these too - also from Crimea! Yes, they have indeed some green-heart appeal. Will post mine later!



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Catalog #5965 - 2
Re: Catalog #5965 -- Timbuk-2 Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Timbuk-2 Post Reply
04/15/2017, 09:43:49

Just checked mine and..., guess what! They are "green-hearts", if the name is not reserved for the Venetian types.

Not sure I can, but I'll try to get the green core (with thing brick-red overlay) visible. All of mine show the same color combination, but seem to be a lot smaller than yours.



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Catalog #6118 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:28:03

This string has been shown in an earlier post. It is a neat looking group of spherical and oval shaped mosaic cane eye type glass beads contemporary with similar more western Mediterranean types, but using different colors. The source was reported as the eastern Black Sea littoral. They are about 9 x 12 mm up to 11 x 18 mm in size and should date from about 600 to 1100 AD more or less.

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Catalog #6125 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:29:30

Similar in age type and style (perhaps a bit more complex) to the previous catalog #6118, about 12 x 13 mm in average size. Are these related to the so-called "Fustat" beads?

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Catalog #6166 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:30:48

A sweet looking short string of bumpy-eye type beads showing an iridescent patina and three matching pairs of beads. They are about 9 x 9 mm up to 14 x 14 mm in size. From the Anatolian or southern side of the Black Sea, these are thought to date from about 400 to 600 AD (Roman-Ostrogothic), but the date could easily go earlier or even later. Similar type beads have been seen from the Phoenician trade era up to the late first millennium AD.

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Catalog #6166
Re: Catalog #6166 - Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Timbuk-2 Post Reply
04/15/2017, 09:26:42

The specimen with raised blueish-green eyes have the same color than the eyes of the white one, I posted recently. This beads are proof this color exists (since nobody can doubt your beads are authentic, I assume).



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Catalog #6310 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:32:10

A gnarly looking giant of a bumpy eye bead, with elongated eyes protruding every which a way. Also from the Anatolian side of the Black Sea, with apparent Phoenician eye type bead influence, dating from about the same time period, circa 500 to about 200 BC. This monster is 33 mm across and 19 mm through the large stringing hole.

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Catalog #6310
Re: Catalog #6310 - Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Timbuk-2 Post Reply
04/15/2017, 09:31:41

This bead is truely "something". What a collectible! It is proof, that local beadmaking took place.

PS
A question I was going to ask anyway: Do we know the beadmaking centers around the Black Sea/Crimea?`


PPS
There are various of great Russian and Ucrainian books on beads (partly bi-lingual) with interesting color-photos and the sketches I personally prefer over photos. I am researching availability right now. Should anybody be interested, I could order additional copies (books are relatively cheap there).



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Catalog #6312 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:33:42

Another giant sized bumpy eye bead with a little more fineness from the same region as #6310, but dating a bit later, reported to be Roman-Ostrogothic, about 400 to 600 AD. This one is 25 mm in diameter and a whopping 44 mm in length.

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Catalog #5971 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:34:56

A neat looking string of criss-cross radial-eye type beads found near Kiev, along the north-south trade routes, about the time of the Viking trade, 800 to 1100 AD. They are about 13 x 12 mm up to 17 x 15 mm in size. We would normally call this style Mediterranean in origin, or "Islamic era", and certainly there was plenty of this type of bead traded in the region at this time, but this lot has a distinctly different look and color scheme that leads me to believe they could be part of the Black Sea Littoral production, or possibly northern Europe. It is hard to see in these pictures, but the bead just right of center on the upper side has a tiny blue star inside the red spot-eye.

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Catalog #5971
Re: Catalog #5971 - Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Timbuk-2 Post Reply
04/15/2017, 09:36:00

Lovely beads with a wonderful patina. I clearly see the star. Do you think is was made in a mold?



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Catalog #4092 - Black Sea Trade.....
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: mosquitobay Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:36:18

A very unusual elongated trailed bead with 3 added raised eyes on one side. This bead was found in the Viking trade settlement of Staraya Ladoga and should date from about the Viking period, circa 800 to 1100 AD. It is about 14 mm wide and 24 mm in length. It could be of Mediterranean origin, but it is my want to believe that it was also made in the Black sea region.

Thanks for listening to me ramble on, any comments or disagreements are welcome.

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Catalog #4092
Re: Catalog #4092 - Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Timbuk-2 Post Reply
04/15/2017, 11:54:08

The rather crude workmanship lets me agree with your assumption that the bead was possibly made locally!



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Thank You Jan
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Dog Bone Crazy Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:46:18



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Fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Rosanna Post Reply
04/15/2017, 07:55:37



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Spectacular Jan!
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: art Post Reply
04/15/2017, 08:51:42



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Green behind the red
Re: Spectacular Jan! -- art Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Timbuk-2 Post Reply
04/15/2017, 12:01:21

As previously said, the red Black Sea beads in my collection have indeed a semi-transparent green/80%-blue core. The red outer layer is extremely thin and theefore often rubbed off, as some photos hopefuly proof!

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Green and Red from the Black Sea
Re: Green behind the red -- Timbuk-2 Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Timbuk-2 Post Reply
04/15/2017, 12:11:00

Though roundabout 90% of my 120 red beads from Crimea/Black Sea show semi-transparent green glass cores, not all specimen have green bases. Some 15 are completely opaque brick-red, as the photo might be able to show!

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Modified by Timbuk-2 at Sat, Apr 15, 2017, 12:11:33

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Variety in shape
Re: Green and Red from the Black Sea -- Timbuk-2 Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Timbuk-2 Post Reply
04/15/2017, 12:13:59

Sozes between 7 and 14 mm.

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Modified by Timbuk-2 at Sat, Apr 15, 2017, 12:14:50

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Black Sea beads - two more
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Will Post Reply
04/15/2017, 22:22:02

Hi Jan,

These are wonderful, Jan. Thanks for showing them. Along with Yankee's they form the beginning of a really useful archive.

Here are a couple more to add to it. The first is another one from the Caucasus foothills, that like the large blue bead I showed before, was probably used to decorate a Sarmatian horse harness. This one is smaller but still quite massive - 28mm. The nomadic tribes, Scythians and Sarmatians in particular, are one of the most important factors in the Black Sea bead trade.

The second is from southern Russia, and is said to have been found along with other artefacts from the second century BCE. It's 24mm in length.

Best,

Will

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Thank You Jan !!
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: ancient beads Post Reply
04/16/2017, 00:38:16



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Thank you for this great series, Jan!
Re: Glass Beads from the Black Sea Trade..... -- mosquitobay Post Reply Edit Forum Where am I?
Posted by: Joyce Post Reply
04/16/2017, 20:13:52



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