North American Beads Rare and Collectible Beads from Piney Hollow

PINEY HOLLOW 427 North 4th Avenue Tucson, Arizona 85705 USA 520 623-4450 piney-hollow.com

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Navigation links to our Collectible Bead and Catalog pages.

	Rare and Collectible Beads This web site presents the history and lore of collectible beads from around the world and features a sampling of beads from Piney Hollow's bead museum and retail store catalog. The beads are categorized according to the regions and cultures in which they were traded or produced.
The Diggers (detail) bead work = 5 x 5 inches Go to the Gallery page to see the full image and learn more about bead art.

NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Cornaline d'Aleppo: "Hudson Bay" beads traded widely in Canada and Northern US. Both the larger, round bead and the smaller oval are available in strands only. 19th century.

Manhattan: Legend tells us this type of Dutch beads was among those of the Manhattan Transfer. Commonly traded by the Dutch, they were an attempt to copy the Venetian chevron. Strands or individual beads in groups of 5.

NORTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

"Russian Blues" were traded in the Pacific Northwest. Their name derives from the fact that they were transshipped across Russia into China and then across the Pacific to be utilized as a trade item with the Native American population. However, their story is a bit more complex in that the beads were actually manufactured in Czechoslovakia and then shipped across Russia to China, where they were faceted. The faceted blue beads were then shipped to Alaska and down the North American west coast into the American "North West." The illustrated strand is made from a Tlingit cache found in Craig, Alaska.

Dentalium and "Russian Blues," Chinese glass beads: Dentalium is a shell found in the nootka sound area of British Columbia, Canada and was used as ornamentation before the western incursion. It was traded to the Chinook people in return for items from the Columbia River. Widely disseminated, this sea life shell has been found as far East as Minnesota and Wisconsin. The pictured necklace is a combination of dentalium and chinese glass.

Dentalium and chinese glass beads. Dentalium was found in the nootka sound area of british columbia and used as ornamentation before the western incursion. The pictured necklace is a combination of dentalium and chinese glass. From alaska, though not pictured,the necklace was part of the c. Richard le roy collection in the july 1971 issue of arizona highways.

"Peking" Glass: These cobalt blue beads were actually made in Boshan, Shandong province; they were an active trade bead into California and the Pacific Northwest. Late 19th and early 20th century. Shown in july, 1971 issue, Arizona Highways.

These "Lewis and Clark" beads illustrate a style carried by Lewis and Clark for trade on their expedition to the Pacific Northwest. These glass beads were made in Venice from the earliest years of the 1800's and have also been traded in West Africa. Africans refer to them as "Lewis and Clarks".

SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

Padres: Spanish Priests brought this once popular blue bead into the Southwest for trade and labor. It is said that thirty beads were worth a good pony. They have lost some of their original value. Strands only.

Mohave necklace: A distinct style of seed bead weaving, unique among the Mohave Americans.

Hubble and Old Tile beads:

Hubble Turquoise:

Fused glass beads were were popular in certain earlier cultures for trading. They were both colorful and durable, as is demonstrated by their good condition after four centuries. Their value was determined by the number of layers of glass they contained. You can count 5 layers in the chevron bead pictured below (each color is a different layer). The processes for manufacturing the glass beads are interesting. Following is a brief explanation of how chevron and milifiore beads are made.

Chevron beads have been made from the 1500's to present day in Venice. Glass rods are bundled together to make a design. The bundle is then heated until the rods fuse. While still soft, these bundles can be drawn or stretched out, making the rod diameter smaller to meet the size required for the design. After cooling, the single rod is cut to length and ground down to make the combinations of colors show up at the ends of the beads in the familiar star patterns.

Milifiore beads, including those that were used in African Trade, are produced by fusing thin glass rods togther to form intricate designs. After fusion, the rods are broken away to leave small flower-like patterns. A core of glass is then formed and, when very soft, it is rolled over the small flower pieces. Then, the entire bead is again heated to absorb the flowers into the finished bead.

As soon as fused glass bead making techniques were discovered, Venice enacted harsh laws to protect the secret process. Other trading countries were eager to learn how to make them and there were 16th century equivelents of commercial spy organizations to enhance competition.

Visit us during the
Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

If you plan to attend the 2002 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show,
be sure to visit our retail store on 4th Avenue.
We are near the downtown area and other gem show sites.

PINEY HOLLOW
427 North 4th Avenue
Tucson, Arizona 85705 USA
Tucson, Arizona USA 520 623-4450

E-mail us at:
pineyho@aol.com

Use this link to inquire about
Collectible Beads from Piney Hollow.

Visit our Tucson retail store's web site: http://piney-hollow.com

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anubis@azstarnet.com

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