Antique Polychrome Kiffa African Powder Glass Bead Mauritania, African Trade

Description: This is an antique polychrome colorful Kiffa bead which comes from Mauritania, Africa. This hard to find rare antique bead is in great overall condition. Very highly desirable this antique bead measures 9.80mm long by 9.63mm wide and would be excellent for jewelry making or adding to your antique African trade bead collection. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.... "Kiffa beads are rare powder glass beads named after the Mauritanian city of Kiffa where French ethnologist R. Mauny documented them first in 1949. Kiffa beads represent one of the highest levels of artistic skill and ingenuity in beadmaking, being manufactured with the simplest materials and tools available - pulverized European glass beads or fragments of them, bottle glass, pottery shards, tin cans, twigs, steel needles some gum Arabic, and open fires. The term Kiffa bead, named after the one of the old bead making centres of Kiffa in Mauritania, was coined by bead collectors during the 1980s. According to Peter Francis, Jr., the making of powder glass beads in West Africa may date back a few hundred years, and to possibly 1200 CE in Mauritania. Maure powder glass beads are believed to copy older, Islamic beads, of the type made in Fustat and elsewhere. Although the making of Mauritanian powder glass beads appears to be an ancient tradition, no archaeological evidence to establish their age has been found to date." I combine shipping on multiple orders so please check out my ebay store Mountainamma's Marketplace where I have thousands of items to browse through from Africa and beyond. For buyers of multiple items please message me for help combining shipping fees before you buy.

Price: 85 USD

Location: Williams, Oregon

End Time: 2025-01-17T15:47:20.000Z

Shipping Cost: 9.75 USD