Hi you all,

Please do not mistake my motives or goals.

When I write about the phenomenon of using terms like "cultural amber" my intent is NOT to validate nor to sanction that use. (Far from it!)

My intent is to state that this is what has happened, continues to happen, and how and why it happened.

In the present context, the question was asked whether old plastic beads imitating amber have any value and/or merit the high prices they command. My reply is that they have had a cultural use by Africans, are as old as they are, are as scarce as they are, and remain collectible.

Ideally, I think it would be nice if dealers (such as Liza—but also MANY others), and if Africans who sell to them, would ALL drop the pretense that the beads we are talking about are "amber." This has been my goal since I first wrote about these issues in 1974.

As a matter of fact, one of the primary reasons I became a bead researcher is precisely because, as an artist, I had made several necklaces using these big phenolic beads, and had sold them (sometimes to friends of mine) as "African amber." When I discovered the beads were plastic, not only was I disappointed that I had been lied to—but I was also concerned that I had become part of the problem by then selling the beads with a false identification. So, it has FOR A VERY LONG TIME it has been my goal to educate myself, and then educate others about beads and beadwork.

I have done more than any other person to deal with this phenomenon, for 30 years now. Please don't make it sound as though I were part of the problem—when I have been the solution longer than anyone (!).

Jamey

I did not mean to infer that you do. You definatley do give correct information, (thank you!!) but we do need to help Liza. It's the age of information now and she has no idea people can learn so much about beads in so little time on the net.

It's a long uphill battle. Remember about 4 years ago when Abdul learned about the difference? He said," How am I to tell all of Africa, by myself, from Cairo to Johannesburg?" Abdul is not the only African dealer who knows the difference, then there are a few who don't want to know, and some who still believe that all perceived "amber" is some sort of natural resin. It is very confusing information for them as buyers and sellers when they have been told something else for more than 20 years.

It's just an unfortunate example of common market names coupled along with misinterpretation. The first time I saw a quantity of this material was at Gems and Jewels in perhaps 1982, in San Francisco, just before they went out of business. Remember them? Upper Market, north side. At that time, I was just learning about amber. And I thought, dang, this stuff is so heavy!!! It was indeed phenolic plastic, but that particular seller at the time told me that it was copal. I had read a little, enough to sort of think of copal as "immature amber" ...so asked then, how did it lose all that weight when it became amber??? The guy simply told me that copal is heavier. Sigh.

And yeah, images are useless without words. Bunches of people would have thought these beads are amber if I had posted them with no words.

I will put it nicely, the pictures are very helpful, yes, but they mean absolutely nothing without the words. I have seen hundreds and possibly thousands of Amber and Amber look-a-like beads over the past 20-30 years and until recently never paid much attention to them. I was always skeptical about them being real or not, so I focused on beads I could ID without much problem. I have learned more about Amber in the past 3 days than all the years put together.....and all from the words, they make the pictures make sense. I appreciate all that has been shared about it on this forum. Now I'm even more skeptical though....OH Well!
Thomas

I collect blatantly fake amber. The big round ones were sold at
Beadazzled as "Plamber". I have no idea what the dry looking yellow/orange ones consist of, but noone could even suggest to a prospective buyer that they are amber, cultural or otherwise. The beads with the "inclusions" are some of my favorites. And there's one surprise at about 6:30. Can anyone guess what that bead is?
Paula

Hi Paula,

Ther large somewhat flat bright yellow beads are treated cow horn from East Africa, made to be frankly fakes—though in one instance I know of someone buying them as "African amber." The horn is apparently boiled in oil to make it more translucent, and then dyed.

The spheroid beads to the top left and lower right look like the "late phenolic" beads that made their first appearance in the late 1980s. Although they were also sold as "old amber" they have a distinctive (and new) look, even though they are derived from preformed canes (like the older phenolic beads). Since I haven't tested any of these, I am not positive they are phenolic.

The small shiny bead looks like glass.

Jamey

Yes Jamey, the amber-colored glass bead was made by Marie Jose Opper.
I love it. Thanks for the info on the other beads. Paula

I have some, they were sold to me from a Moroccan dealer as "amber" but in my heart I knew they were not. Personally, I have not seen that many of them but I knew when I touched them that they were horn.

Thanks for the confirmation.

Here's my collection of what I now understand should be called "cultural" amber. They all came from the Bedouin in Beersheva Israel. Perhaps they came up through the Sinai from Egypt and thus fall into the category of "African". Materials include copal, bone and I guess phenolic resin. You can almost "see" the hands that worked the material with primitive tools. Don't you love them?

Hi Paula,

I want to make sure you understood my point.

What I wrote a couple of days ago was that certain dealers (one of whom I named) in the 1970s, when it became clear that the "amber" they were selling was not amber—they devised a selling strategy, by saying these beads "are culturally amber," because the previous owners believed the beads were amber (and many still do).

This was NOT a recommendation to start using that phrase. (God forbid.)

I would guess that some of the beads you show might actually be amber. Some are most likely phenolic plastic and thermolabile plastic (the pale oblates).

Jamey

Thanks, Jamey. I promise that won't call them cultural amber in or outside of this forum any more. I didn't want to risk calling them African amber in my posting, so for want of a better name, used "cultural".

I'm going to go put them in the tub now and see what floats. Maybe I'll send them to Letterman. ;-)

Paula