These Trade Beads were so fun to work with and construct into a bracelet for my dear friend. Anita saw a bracelet that she fell in love with so I asked her to send me a picture of the bracelet. She liked the patterns and balance of semi precious beads to sterling silver beads, so I suggested we use some ancient trade beads and give the design some oomph!
Anita is a beautiful Nordic gal and can wear the lovely creamy, sunny colors of Mastodon Ivory, Coral, Amber and Turquoise. I will even go so far as to say she is a definite “Summer” in the fashion color scheme. I had to stick in some antique glass trade beads because I love them so and assuage my need to infuse spirit into the piece. Trade beads always reek with it! It’s the history of every single bead that just comes with the bead. The oldest of the beads on the piece are probably the Amber bead or the Mastodon Ivory disk bead, but who knows when the Turquoise was created??? That aside, the oldest glass bead is probably the black striped bead from Mesopotamia. On the heels of that are the millefiori (“thousand flowers’) bead made for the African trade, the Amber glass melon shape bead and the green opaque glass bead possibly made in the 1600’s in Venice, at that time the undisputed world capital of glass. The green melon chevrons also were made pre-1800. Really the only modern beads on the bracelet are the Sterling beads and the clasp. Next was to design and construct some dangle earrings with similar beads and color scheme. I think it is mission accomplished in the trade bead category.