...and here is the pic of The Drips.

--Chris

And how recent? I bought these 12 years ago, all I know is that they came on the same strand as a bunch of other beads from Africa.

--Chris

The roundish dotted beads couldn't possibly be an old style of Kiffa bead, could they? Under the loupe, they just have that melted powder glass look to the dots, trailing, glazed appearance.

As to the "bird," after looking through my loupe at what appears to be a very old fracture at the top, I wonder if it wasn't created coincidentally when two trail-decorated beads slipped together and were subsequently broken apart - one leaving remnants as the "head" and "tail" of the bird.

--Chris

Hi Chris,

I don't believe anyone has ever shown an unconventional Kiffa (murakad) bead, with a reaslistic suggestion that it were "early" or "prototypical." Practically all of these beads were made from the same (recycled) bead/glass components, and have the same general color scheme—this being bright red, yellow, and blue; with some minor colors such as green. Though a variety of beads may have served for the raw materials, I believe the most frequent beads used were molded or wound Czech beads, not made much before the 1920s. This dates Kiffa production beginnings to the early 20th C.

If anyone found Mauritanian powderglass beads made from other glasses—particularly not-so-colorful glasses—and if they had other characteristics suggesting early or experimental phasing—THAT would be interesting, and a big deal. But it hasn't happened yet.

I'm not sure what your beads are, but unless you know they came from Mauritania, this seems an unlikely proposition.

Jamey

Nothing appears to have been done to it. The head and tail are not glued on - I checked with my gem microscope, what superficially look like seam lines aren't. No glue. The glass, not surprisingly, isn't actually black, but shows dark reddish brown at small fracture points. I tested one of these patches with a hot point to see if it was glue or resin and would melt, it simply fractured from the heat stress and popped off leaving a typical conchoidal glass fracture below.

The white material in the swirls looks to me like corroded glass and not like plaster, if that's what the other possible candidate is.

Anything else incriminating I should be looking for?

I still think its resemblance to a bird is merely a nice coincidence.

The "drips" are along the bottom - also the "bird," as it seems to have undergone a similar process. I looked more closely at the head and tail portions, which do not appear to be glued on, but rather melted on. What I thought was a fracture in fact appears to be a mark left by some sort of dowel pressed into the soft glass - similar to the bead to the left of the bird. You can see why I call these beads the "drips" - they definitely sagged while hot. On one, two saggy lobes apparently met beneath the hole.

Also included are other beads that were in this bunch. Under the microscope's fiberoptic light, the "black" glass is actually a deep cranberry, especially apparent on the plain barrel and the last-mentioned drip bead, where the fiberoptic reveals the glass to be translucent - you can see the white swirls inside and outside.

So - old swirl beads re-melted to imitate old folded glass, or manufactured to imitate old folded glass right from the get-go?

Also in this bunch of old beads were these two striped bicone beads which appear to be a slab of striped canes spirally wound. Evelyn, Jamey, and Patrick had a discussion of these beads in the archives [link attached]

Under the microscope, this glass is very different - the black portion is a sorty of dark, greasy gray. The lipstick red is shiny and opaque. It does remind me of glass from India, but what do I know?

Also in this bunch of old beads were three a speos - two blue, one a teal green. One seriously ground, the other two still possessing drip scars.

Under the microscope, the "black" glass is revealed to be a finely ground mix of bright blue and beer bottle brown. The stripes and dots are "painted on" fused yellow and white powder glass.

I say "painted on" because this powder glass does not resemble the stuff from Ghana? - the colors of the glass are carefully separated, whereas when I look at Ghana? powder glass beads from ten years ago I see lots of mixed colors [e.g., yellow turns out to be a mix of yellow, blue, red, white, green...], with the patterns applied by what looks like sequential layering throughout the bead, not surface application.

So I still think they're Kiffa beads, based upon manufacture technique and what strikes me as a feminine design.

But of course I don't have a letter stating that Fatima in Mauritania made these personally.

[the blue glob in the photo is a ratty old piece of bluetack]

Or maybe they're the "writing" style of Ghana powder glass beads. That would account for the unevenness of the white meander, which strikes me as inconsistent with neat Kiffa workmanship.

Hidey ho,
Chris

As if. But these were the beads filling out the strands the other old beads came on.

So, back into the box in the drawer, to be sold by my heirs to some kid at a garage sale for 50 cents.

Hidey ho,
Chris

The earlier 18th C. beads, probably made at Venice and Holland, are distinctive—and you have shown some. In this image, the central bead of the middle (2nd) strand may be one. Most of the rest of these beads appear to be the 19th-20th C versions made at Venice.

I call these "meander" beads. Others call them "snake" beads—which I find problematic, since there are already "snake" beads from Czechoslovakia.

Jamey

Yes, I see the difference. The "Dutch" bead has a thicker and more haphazard trailing, in what appears to be an older and more weathered glass, and no rings at top and bottom.

I think I'll dig out a few more and check the red glass vs black glass thing with the fiberoptic.

Chris

Yesterday I was re-reading 1991 vol. 3 of Beads: Joural of the Society of Bead Researchers, and noticed these beads making an appearance in this article:

The Mohawk Glass Bead Chronology: ca. 1560-1785 by Donald A. Rumrill

And on Plate IIB we see two specimens of this bead, captioned for the 1682-1785 period. In Table 26, Beads of the First Historic Occupation at the Allen Site, they're listed in quotes as "Roman beads," Variety IIj2 [a drawn bead, yes?]

So at any rate, seventeen years ago they looked neither Dutch nor like rattlesnakes to a Fellow of the New York State Archaeological Association. I'm sure he didn't think they were actually Roman, but that was the analogy topmost in his mind insofar as decribing their appearance.

But if they were made from chopped pieces of tubes, like the striped a speos, that might account for the spurs and drippy appearance if things got out of control during the trailed embellishment process. Maybe.

;^)

Chris

...and that I haven't wrecked some priceless old relic.

This was also kicking around in the drawer with the others.

Hello,
Yes I think it's Venetian, I've a couple of them as well.
When I have a little time, I'll take some photos of them as well
as the meander/bird type, although mine are not as birdish.
Pamela

Hi again,
I've given it a try, bad photos I'm afraid it's 23:00 here, need the
sun... what do you think, do they look similar?

some conjoined twin varieties also

here is another view of similar beads to the ones you show, these are not Kiffa types, they are powder glass in my opinion, related to Ghanian "Bodom" beads.... I am assuming. They appear to be made in a similar fashion.

Pretty funny, Thomas, that you and I both wound up with a pair of these beads. Guess we each bought something from the same African trader back in 1996?

Do you suppose Kevin Bacon also has a couple of these beads?

--Chris

I still haven't heard or read any definite opinions on these types, there are possibly 3 or more time periods pictured here...

some unusual characteristics on this bead....plus another group shot

Y'know, some of these sure look like they were originally intended to imitate Dzi beads. And then it also turned out that some of the Africans liked them because they have a casual resemblance to old Islamic folded glass beads? A bonus for the Venetian bead team?

--Chris