Necklace, Sudanese silver & Chevrons

This very special necklace is Sudanese silver & Chevrons. Their elegance and technical refinement makes these among the most treasured of antique trading beads. Chevrons were a favourite of African chiefs who wore them with lion's teeth and other amulets to demonstrate their power and virility. The brown beads are also antiques and were made in Ghana by recycling beer and medicine bottles used by 16th /17 century European traders, at a time when glass was unknown in Africa. The bottles were recycled by grinding them into a powder, melting the glass and re-forming them again. Most old Ghanaian glass beads worked in this way are blue, green or brown in colour because that was the colour of the bottles used by the traders. The hand made silver centrepiece is from the Rashaida nomads of the Eritrean / Sudan border area.
Length: approx 50 cm / 20 inches