| Beads
have played an important role in every major
civilization and have have often served a
more spiritual purpose. They have been used
throughout the ages and in virtually every
culture, not simply as adornment but to
express social circumstances, political
occurrences, and religious beliefs; as a
form of currency; or as symbolic embodiments
of curative powers. And they're colorful,
made of various interesting materials, and
can be combined in endless configurations.
Beads, small perforated objects, usually spherical, that may be strung into necklaces
and bracelets or attached to clothing or furnishings. The word bead is derived from
Middle English bede, meaning “prayer,” and was originally applied to prayer beads, or
rosaries. Beads are made of a variety of materials: seeds, wood, ivory, bone, horn,
shell, coral, pearl, jet, amber, gemstones, metals, ceramics, and plastics. They were
worn in the Stone Age—and still are in traditional communities—as amulets or charms,
probably because magical properties were attributed to the materials of which they
were made. Beads have also been worn since early times for decoration. Easily
portable, they have, in addition, been objects of exchange.
Archaeological finds reveal that a variety of gold bead necklaces were worn in ancient
Mesopotamia and India. Egyptian nobles favored wide collars of colored gemstone,
ceramic, or glass beads. Byzantine courtiers and Mughal Indian nobility wore ropes of
pearls. In Europe, pearls and also glass beads, manufactured since the 13th century,
were popular both for jewelry and embroidery. Women wore strings of pearls, first real,
later artificial, a fashion that continued into the 20th century. Hundreds of tiny glass
beads or seed pearls were embroidered on dresses, church vestments, small pictures,
boxes, and baskets or were strung and knitted into ladies' purses or used as fringe on
dresses and lampshade.
Native North Americans and tribal Africans wore strings of small beads and
embroidered beads on their clothes and bags as, for example, the skin tunics of the
Inuit and the aprons of the Nubile. Africans also trimmed headdresses with beads and
covered vessels and stools with them. In addition, beads were used for money as, for
example, shell wampum on the east coast of North America. Originally the beads were
made from natural materials such as shell; subsequently they were
replaced by glass beads obtained from European traders.
Today, the
variety of Beads available to bead
enthusiasts is almost as extensive as their
history. From simple shells or Wooden Beads
carved from naturally occurring materials to
more complex items such as Ceramic, Acrylic
and Plastic Beads, the Bead industry is one
of the oldest surviving trades on the
planet!
|
