About Nomad

About the Beads

Human beings have used a wide variety of beads for personal adornment from the earliest days of history. Stone-cutting tools and stone beads over a million years oldhave been found in East Africa. Beads were probably the first durable ornaments that humans possessed and their value is reflected in the fact that they were so often buried with their owners and arestill unearthed from ancient graves. Beads dating from the Neolitihic period, as early as 8000 BC, show technique and elegance, and the Ancient Egyptians manufactured a huge range of beads in various materials. Their ancient jewellery comprised beads made of gold, agate, carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise, malachite, faience clay and even mosaic glass, all of which are still popular in the contemporary jewellery of Egypt.

Although we tend to think of beads purely for ornamentation, they have had a huge variety of roles in history. They have been used in the decoration of clothing and furniture for ancient and not-so-ancient royalty, as a part of ritual offerings, as symbols of status, believed to have magical powers for healing and for trade and barter. Almost every society has had the ability to make beads of various materials, and the levels of sophistication of the beads reflect the levels of technological sophistication of the society that made them. In this way, beads tell us a lot about the culture of the time, about history and about the lives of the people who wore them.

Many of the antique beads found around the world, and especially in Africa, are known as trade beads. By the 16th century, technical improvements in boat building and navigation gave Europeans the ability to open up trade routes to areas of the world which had been previously unknown or inaccessible. From the time of the Renaissance, European glassmakers made large quantities of beads that were used by traders and explorers to trade, gift or barter with non-Europeans around the world.Beads were traded for ivory, gold and slaves for huge profit margins - up to a 1000% (yes, one THOUSAND percent!!) return on investment and became an integral part of a global trading system. Alcohol, beads, and guns were traded from Europe for slaves, ivory and gold from Africa. Slaves were shipped by European slave traders to the New World of America as labour for newly established plantations. Sugar, tobacco and other commodities from these plantations, as well as new sources of gold and silver were then returned from the New World of America to the Old World of Europe. And so the cycle continued for centuries, with beads helping to fuel the slave trade, the development of America and the enrichment of Europe between the 16th and 19th centuries.

The earliest European glass-making centres were Venice, Holland, Moravia and Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It is believed that glass making started in Bohemia as early as the 10th century, and in Venice as early as 600 AD, Venice itself being established just 30 years earlier. The trading of glass for other commodities quickly became a highly lucrative source of income for Venice and, in the 13thcenturythe Venetian noblemen who controlled trade transferred all glass-making factoriesto the nearby island of Murano to keep the techniques of glass making secret. By the 15th century, laws were introduced that forbade the glass-makers of Murano, under penalty of death, to divulge any production secrets or to set themselves up in competition with their employers. Glass beads effectively became currency with an enormous profit margin, and became the basis for the huge wealth of Venice and its noblemen. To this day, glass making continues in Murano, though no longer with the death penalty hanging over its production secrets!


You may well wonder why tribal leaders would sell human beings and valuable commodities such as gold and ivory, for tiny bits of glass. When glass beads started to be traded, glass and its uses were still unknown outside Europe and it was therefore a rare and valuable commodity itself. Tribal chiefs throughout Africa, Asia and the Americas were fascinated by the intense colour and transparency of glass, and by its function as mirrors, medicine bottles and alcohol bottles carried by the Europeans. They were also impressed by the intricate patterns of the beads, and as markets expanded, the glassmakers improved on the technical refinement and increased the choice of designs and colours available. African chiefs in particular, would wear multiple strands of glass beads as ornamentation, and as symbols of their status, power and wealth.

Many of the trade beads are made using a mosaic glass technique known as "millefiore" which means "a thousand flowers" in Italian, because of their intricately detailed flower designs. Mosaic glass beads were first invented in western Asia (modern-day Egypt / Iraq/ Israel / Jordon etc), and examples have been excavated that date from as early as 1300 BC, around the time of Tutankhamen and Moses! They appeared and disappeared over the centuries and made a comeback in Venice in the 14th century, for the reasons described above. Millefiore beads require many years of technical expertise and are not simply painted glass. It is the level of expertise and time needed to make the beads by hand that add to their value. They are made using groups of long coloured glass canes, laid together in cross section to create the design required. The glass canes are then heated to fuse them together. The resulting rod is pulled along its length to make it narrower, but the design stays the same. The rod is then sliced thinly, across its width and the slices are laid around a warmed and softened plain glass core with a hole in it, creating a repeating pattern on the bead. This bead with the slices on it is then heated again to fuse the slices of glass together and onto the glass core, resulting in a finished millefiore bead. This technique is the basis of most trade beads and is simply adapted, with varying degrees of complication to create different beads. The Chevron bead is considered amongst the most elegant of antique glass beads and uses a combination of techniques, requiring the hand of master craftsmen. 4 - 7 layers of glass in alternating colours are laid over a core of glass, and then ground away to reveal different patterns.

The design and production of glass beads still continues to this day. Venice, Murano and Bohemia in the Czech Republic are popular centres for sourcing all sorts of glass products; beads, vases, chandelier, bowls and more. The Czech Republic further developed its glass manufacturing capacity since the 18th century and its glass factories are known worldwide for their innovative design and evolving techniques. Many of the vintage beads used in the jewellery of the 18th- 20th centuries originate from there. Beads help create the link between our world's history and our modern day.

The silver components have been sourced in countries with a long tradition of silver craftsmanship. The antique beads and silver all carry small dents and have a patina which show their age and use, and which adds to their value and character. No two pieces will be alike.


Please note that the antique silver from Africa, whether in the Antique range with trade beads, or the Silver range, are NOT Sterling silver. Most of this selection (as well as current-day silver from countries such as India) has 80% silver content mixed with other metals fund locally. Therefore, some of the items may show some discoloration or slight greening from the copper content of the metal. The exception to this is the silver used in the Eclectic range, sourced from Bali and Turkey which is Sterling silver, containing 92.5% silver, and still hand made, though not antique.