African Ghana necklace or waist beads, vintage sandcast glass trade bead necklace, 39" long, blue edging red green brown blue dots on white

African Ghana necklace or waist beads, vintage sandcast glass trade bead necklace, 39" long, blue edging red green brown blue dots on white. Over 100 beads make up this necklace

Being handmade, beads will not be uniform and may have small chips or imperfections.

These beads were obtained at an auction over 10 years ago and had been a part of the inventory of a western supply store in the mountains that had been close for 20 years prior. Most of the inventory had been sitting for years. The 1970s is a conservative estimate and they could well be much older.

Traditional glass beads of Ghana are often referred to as Krobo beads, the Krobo mountains being the main area of production. These 'recycled glass' beads were handcrafted in Ghana, Africa by pulverizing old, discarded glass (bottles, windshields, etc), adding colorant and then pouring the powder into crude clay molds. The stem of a local plant is added, this burns away during firing, leaving a hole for stringing. The beads are fired in a primitive, wood-burning earthen oven. Many beads are hand painted with traditional designs and then strung on raffia. The process of making these beads is unique to Africa and has been used for over 1000 years. The Ghanaians have been making beads in this manner since the 1600s. Beads such as these are often worn as traditional waist beads.

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