A Necklace of Antique African Trade Beads with Large Rare Millelfiori, Awale, Dutch Dogon Beads, and Pink Antique Bohemian Round spacers.
This one-of-a-kind 26.5" long necklace is made of African Trade glass beads. It combines rare large purple and blue millefiori beads, large blue Dogon Dutch blues, small round pink antique Bohemian glass spacers, and small Awale spacers.
The trade beads used in this necklace are old, dating to the late 1800s - early 1900s. They come from across Europe and are a piece of the fascinating history of the trade beads in Europe.
The large tabular millefiori beads (4 hexagonal ranging from 35x25 to 40x25mm and 2 tube beads 40x16mm) are rare large beads made in Venice in the early 1900s for the African trade. These are in excellent condition. The small disk-shaped Awale beads resemble chevrons but are not made with multiple layers. The ones used in this necklace are slices 3-5 mm long and 8mm in diameter. They date to the late 1800 - the early 1900s. Dutch round deep blue Dogon beads were made in the Netherlands for African trade. These were exceptionally popular with the Dogon people of Mali. These are old beads, possibly dating back before the 19th century. And finally, the Bohemian pink glass spacers were produced in Bohemia (now Czechoslovakia) for the African trade.
Please note that the beads are old and have traveled from afar. There are some nicks and chips and shape irregularities are expected, although the beads are generally in excellent condition for their age.
