African Beads: A Book & Crafts Kit

African Beads : A Book and Craft Kit
by Elizabeth Bigham & Janet Coles

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Hardcover - 60 pages Bk&Acces edition (November 1999)
Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 0684867842;
Dimensions (in inches): 1.17 x 8.56 x 7.23

Excerpt from African Beads : A Book and Craft Kit

Chapter 1: Beautiful Beads

Color, sparkle, radiance -- these are qualities that make beads a treasured material throughout the world. In Africa, perhaps more than anywhere else, beads are also prized for the ideas they communicate. Beyond being beautiful, beads "speak" to the people who use them and see them -- conveying important information about power, belief, and cultural experience and identity.

Beads have many meanings. At one time, their rarity made them a valued form of currency. Even now, they signify wealth and are closely associated with kings and other leaders. Beads are also associated with religion: Their shimmering appearance suggests spirituality, and certain colors are linked to specific deities. In addition, beads can proclaim important information about an individual's place in the world, such as whether a woman is married or unmarried, whether a man is a warrior or an elder, and whether a person is of low or high rank.

Cultural Diversity

African beadwork is as diverse as the many cultures that populate the continent. The chapters that follow highlight a selection of bead artistry from five regions of Africa, each with its own beadwork traditions. The people who made these impressive objects possess different cultures and languages, and live in vastly differing environments. The map at the beginning of each chapter indicates where each group lives, and the map at the start of the book snows where these groups live in relationship to one another.

Most of the beads shown in this book are small, glass "seed beads," which originated in Europe. The increased availability of these beads in the nineteenth century contributed to the creativity of African artists, enriching millennia-old bead traditions and inspiring new varieties of beadwork.

The Beadworker's Art

The artists who use beads to make jewelry and to decorate sculpture and ceremonial objects are called beadworkers. In some African cultures, such as the Yoruba, of Nigeria, the beadworkers have traditionally been men. The most famous of the Yoruba beadworkers belong to professional workshops and receive commissions to make the impressive regalia and objects for Yoruba rulers.

In other African cultures, the beadworkers have traditionally been women. This is especially true where beaded objects are used by the people who make them, and where beads are primarily used for jewelry and other items of personal adornment. Ndebele women, of South Africa and Zimbabwe, and Maasai women, of Kenya and Tanzania, are skilled beadworkers who make necklaces, bracelets, skirts, and other items, mainly for themselves and their families.

Africa's Earliest Beads

Beads come in many shapes and materials. For thousands of years, African beadmakers have crafted beads from various natural materials, including shells, seeds, tusks, bone, clay, wood, stone, glass, and metal. The earliest-known African beads were made from pieces of ostrich eggshell in northern Africa about 12,000 years ago.

All of the objects in this book were created in Africa, south of the Sahara. The first glass beads in the sub-Saharan region may have been made in Mapungubwe, South Africa, around A.D. 600. About one thousand Years ago, glass beads were also made in Nigerian cities, including Ife and Igbo-Ukwu. Today, the cities of Bida, in Nigeria, and Kiffa, in Mauritania, endure as two of the most important African sites for glass beadmaking. Beadmakers in both of these cities excel in creating individually made, minutely detailed, multicolored beads.

The first imported glass beads on the continent are thought to have been brought from India by Arab merchants in about 200 B.C. Due in part to the nature of early trade, beads from India and the Arab world were available in comparatively small quantities.

Beads were carried along routes that stretched thousands of miles over sea and land, across desert and savanna, before reaching major inland trading centers, like the wealthy ancient city of Timbuktu.

The European Bead Trade

In Europe, the Italian city of Venice dominated the world bead market in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Glass beads were produced there in factories in large quantities. Later, beads were produced in and exported from the Netherlands, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), and other European countries. European ships set sail for Africa and the Americas with cargoes of beads, which were among the favorite items of barter.

In Africa, beads were exchanged for valuable commodities such as gold, ivory, and -- until 1870 -- slaves. Portuguese vessels were the first to arrive, in the late 1400s and 1500s, followed by Dutch, English, French, Belgian, and German merchants. At first, trade was concentrated in African coastal areas. Beads were sold in port cities, including Accra, Lagos, Fernando Po, and Delagoa Bay, and then were resold along existing trade routes. In the late 1800s, with the colonial partitioning and rule of Africa by nations such as England, France, and Belgium, Europeans increasingly brought beads to the continent's interior.

African beadwork evokes a rich palette of identity, belief, and inspiration. It has endured in Africa for thousands of years and more recently has taken hold in the Americas. During the slave trade, Africans who were forcibly brought to the Americas carried this legacy with them. Today, beadwork with roots in Yoruba and other African cultures is made in cities from New York to Rio de Janeiro.

In Africa, contemporary artists continue To experiment with new forms, colors, and patterns. Many of the traditional styles of beadwork shown in this book are still made, along with recent varieties that reflect new ideals, audiences, and materials. As outsiders have come to appreciate the beauty and graphic power of African beadwork, artists have increasingly produced items for sale to tourists and the foreign market. African beadwork is a rich and ever changing tradition. Strands of beads continue to connect the continent to the rest of the world -- across oceans and over time.

from Chapter 7: Craft Projects

Picture Frame

Moderate

Styled after a Yoruba bag, this project requires the cardboard frame and beads from the kit. It also requires white glue, a paintbrush, and a toothpick.

1. Place the cardboard frame on a clean surface. Using the white glue and brush, brush on a thick, 1/2-inch (1.5 cm) line of glue along the outer border of the frame.

2. Pick up as many white beads on the needle as you can, and carefully slide them off onto the line of glue. Make sure that the beads remain on their sides, tightly packed together. Use a toothpick, if necessary, to nudge the beads into the proper alignment.

3. Complete the outline of the flame, then outline the elephant, flowers, and leaves. Fill in the blue background and the figures. Allow the frame to dry completely before handling. Measure the size of the opening and trim a picture to glue into place.

Fringe Earrings

Moderate

These earrings are made with alternating colors of beads, like those in a Yoruba necklace. They require a needle and thread, glass beads, jump rings, and earring wires from the kit. They also require clear nail polish.

1. Start with 3 rows of the Square Stitch (page 46). Row 1: Tie on 1 red bead. Then thread on 1 yellow, 1 red, and 1 yellow bead.

2. Row 2: Thread on 1 yellow and 1 red bead. Thread through the second-to-last bead of Row 1, then back through the red bead in Row 2. Thread on a yellow bead. Thread through the third-to-last bead of Row 1, then back through the yellow bead in Row 2. Thread on a red bead. Thread through the first bead of Row 1 and back through the red bead.

3. Row 3: Thread on 1 red and 1 yellow bead. Follow instructions for the Square Stitch to the end of the row, emerging through a yellow bead. This section forms the earring base.

4. Starting with a black bead, thread on alternating black and white beads for a total of 25 beads. Thread on 2 red beads and 1 yellow bead. Thread back through the second red bead and back through the black-and-white row and the yellow bead in the base.

5. Thread down through the next yellow bead in the base. Beginning with a red bead, thread on alternating yellow and red beads fora total of 29 beads. Thread on 2 black beads and 1 white bead. Thread back through the second black bead and back through the row and the yellow bead in the base.

6. Thread down through the next yellow bead. Repeat Step 4. Thread through to the top row of the base, emerging next to the starting thread. Knot the starting and working threads.

7. Thread up through the center red bead in the top row of the base. Thread on 4 red beads. Attach the jump ring by stitching though the ring several times. Tie a knot through the main thread. Cover the knots with nail polish. Finish off loose threads. Attach the earring wires.

--From African Beads : A Book and Craft Kit, by Elizabeth Bigham, Janet Coles. © November 1999 , Elizabeth Bigham, Janet Coles used by permission.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description
In Africa beads are more than beautiful -- they are also meaningful. What they mean and how they are used are explained in this full-color book, illustrated with works of art and on-site photographs. The craft kit includes materials for making ten beadwork projects designed by expert Janet Coles: a daisy necklace, loom-woven bracelets, a picture frame, patterned rings, colorful barrettes, dangling earrings, and a love-letter necklace.

Synopsis
Created in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this unique hands-on book and craft kit allows readers to learn bead-making from jewelry art representing five African regions.