Dear Renaid,
I see two photos, though perhaps you attempted to post three (?).
The upper stand is a very typical group of Nigerian powderglass beads, presented in a graduated strand, of different shapes of beads. Nigerian powderglass beads such as these were made to imitate coral—a valuable and desirable bead material in the past, and remaining so today.
These beads were documented in the 1940s, and may have been made as late as the 1960s. The usual result of powderglass beadmaking is a nearly-opaque bead (because the glass remains granular). However, there is often some translucence, depending on the glass used. In the case of imitation coral, typically, red imported beads were ground-up, and that glass combined with scrap glass (such as colorless bottles). The more red glass used, the more saturated the color. But many beads are spotty-looking, because the red glass is a smaller percentage in the mix.
These beads may or may not have a ground and polished finish. This provides a nice exterior, and the resulting beads look the most like real coral. I do not recall seeing the beads you show below, that have engraved (?) or cut parallel lines—but the beads also look Nigerian.
By the way, there are no Dutch beads from as late as the mid-19th century. The latest ones I know of were early 18th C. beads. Usually, it is a 19th C. German or Bohemian/Czech bead that is presented as "Dutch"—this being a mistake.
I hope this helps.
Jamey
Thank you, for your answer, jamey. Very interesting. I know only the site of Bida in Nigery for glass production. Have there been others as well? I find the pattern interestin. They look for me as a copy of there scarf tatoos. I had post three images but can't find the third so I send it again. Sorry for the two error messages, the answer was send as soon as I pressed enter. ? I will try to manage this site!
Thanks renaid
Hello Renaid,
In addition to Bida, at about 100 years ago, hot-glass was worked at Oyo (and another near-by location—the name of which escapes me at the moment, in Nupe territory). These are the ONLY places in West Africa where glass was hot-worked, as is routine in most other places of glass production.
Nigerian powderglass is or was more local to Ile-Ife, which is Yoruba country. The industry there seems to have declined in the 1960s. However, I hope that at the Conference in Istanbul, later this year, we may get some new information. If not then, I am in contact with scholars who are investigating this industry—so we'll know eventually.
Yes, scarification, as practiced in Nigeria, often does include short parallel lines, similar to the bead patterns.
Jamey
Here's a photo I took at the storage facility of the British Museum, two years ago.
On the left, we see the molded Prosser beads that were the source of red glass for Nigerian powderglass beads. Next, the powderglass beads as they look after the primary firing. Then, a small group of refined beads that have been abraded and polished.
These were collected in Nigeria in ca. 1946.
Jamey
Here's a photo from my trip to Nigeria in 1998, showing a strand of refined Nigerian imitation coral beads, and (below) the strand of new Mediterranean coral I bought in Illorin.
As you can see, the refined beads are fairly good-looking and almost convincing imitations. Moreso than are the unrefined beads (though these have a certain charm too).
Jamey
