The clear ones are quite hard to come by these days. Nice long strands in very good condition.

I believe Abdul said he currently has 48 long strands of mixed fancies. These are a big hit, with quite a variety. This one has 3 white-based Czech beads on it.

Around 600$? I am going to start saving up now. I love mixed strands and I especially love all the variety of color. How many strands like this do you have right now Abdul and are you coming to south Florida this year?

:)

The strand of millefiori with fragments or crumbs is delightfully heavy and uniform!

The group of brown-to-amber tone beads are an appealing field trip just to look at. I saw little beads that may be as old as Roman period, to tiny versions of Bohemian tong-molded bicones and stuff in between including a few of stone. These are examples of some esoteric items that Afghani dealers have. Abdul has some of what they want - so it's just an example of further globalization in bead commerce.

Hi Joyce,

These yellow-tone beads appear to me to be European (probably Dutch) glass from the early 18th C.—the beads I discussed a few days ago that are routinely identified as "ancient," because the glass tends to decay easily.

Where are they from? Are they from an area where actual "Roman Period" beads are reasonably expected?

Jamey

Don't know where they were collected - they are pretty small, graduating to 4 or 5mm at the back.

Hi Joyce,

About two years ago, a new group of beads came out of Pakistan, that seem to be related to the "bracelet-fragment" beads—that is, related in the sense of coming from there, and being something no one has seen before, and to seem somehow recycled. The colors of this glass strongly resembles the present beads. I would have to consider that, possibly, some of these new-old-beads might be mixed in with some old "Dutch" beads.

Jamey

Here's a necklace from the X-Lankton Collection, of early 18th C. Dutch beads—of the type I have discussed, made from glass that easily decomposes. Just for comparison.

JDA.

August 29, 2022.

It would be more accurate, I think now, to characterize the pentagon beads as German products, that were traded by the Dutch. These and several other types.

June 4, 2020.

At this time I would be more inclined to suspect that mostly-18th C. glass trade beads, as discussed here, were probably German or Central European beads, TRADED by the Dutch—where they are found in West Africa, Western Asia, and Island SE Asia.

Whether the Tourey beads are entirely those beads, or if the much-newer Pakistani beads are combined together, I could not say, based on a single photo. JDA.

These appear to be well-worn examples of Indo-Pacific beads. The texture on these is pretty neat!

These drawn beads have been coming out of Afghanistan, and Western/Central Asia for thirty years. They are probably "Syrian"—and while they have much in common with Indo-Pacific beads, they are not that.

See them in Lankton's book on the DC Bead Timeline.

Jamey

Hi Rosanna,

I am referring to some earlier beads, seen on p. 62, Figure 7.0, at numbers 621 and 627. James has them dated to between CE 300 and 400. I'm not clear how he came to that reasoning. I would guess it's to make them 'post-Roman' and 'pre-Islamic.' However, I would be inclined to put them in the Islamic Period (unless some provocative information were to come up).

I'm not sure what the 693 beads are—and I'd have to find our notes, and look it up. Orange shell?

Jamey

That would be 20th c. Venetian fancy beads sometimes referred to as "wedding cakes". These beads were mainly for the European market. Abdul includes London in his trade route now, as he used to do in years past. Some of these have been restrung by previous owners.

Abdul is expecting more arrivals before heading east, including the shipment from Ethiopia, with glass beads, telsum and other metal items. For other great images by David of Abdul's wonderful beads, a search of his name will probably give numerous results! Thanks for viewing.

while he was doing the photos.

will appreciate comments on this one...

Hi Joyce,

Here's a necklace I made a few months ago, using similar beads. What I like about this group is that they are not all exactly the same, but show some variation in color tones, and the size and dispersion of the canes. The eleven beads are separated by little fiber beads that I make to cushion and separate delicate or significant beads. (It is very costly for me to make these for a client, as I can only create about five or six an hour.) The closure is an antique Chinese gilded brass button with a macramé loop.

A close-up is shown also. This particular pattern and color scheme is pretty common, and not the most popular among jatim beads. But I think this necklace is handsome and successful.

I have no reason to suspect Abdul's be is anything different.

Jamey

That is one gorgeous necklace! It must weigh over a pound? Thanks for showing! Yes, the Jatim bead with Abdul is very, very nice.

Abdul will be at the Bead Society of Great Britain bead fair Sunday Oct. 4, their 20th annual! It's a trek, but maybe you could get there...

Thank you Joyce, that´s not bad at all...and with Ryanair it will be affordable. Maybe with one or two friends it could be a great weekend in London...I´ve never been there (except "Heathrow", on my way to and from Marrakech - the desastrous flight I´ve ever had).
Thanks again for this information and have a great Sunday...
Uwe

Here's one more goodie from Abdul's van! This is the first time I've seen these purples.

I would love the opportunity to meet Abdul and spend time with his beads after reading so much about him over the past few months of following the network.
Could you please tell me when he's be in the New York or tri-state area? I don't want to miss out!!!
Thanks,
Lynne