Halloween Special Necklace - 13 Hebron Glass Beads & Sterling Beads On Leather - Today Only [MVe0z6Ab]

Artist-made, One-of-a-Kind

This artist's handiwork is characterized by hand-struck pure metals and authentic beads and stones. Her work is known for being organic, natural, and has a rough-hewn look and feel. This accomplished Kansas artist creates her sterling, gold, brass, and copper pieces from scratch. That means she smelts, pours, forms, and decorates each piece of metal herself. Each piece starts with the metal in its liquid form. The process can be labor some, but it results in a pure metal that is strikingly rugged, pure, and authentic.

• Sterling silver hand-struck by the artist
• Nickel-free, lead-free, irritation-free!
• Handmade by a regional artist
• This is a one-of-a-kind
• This piece features authentic Hebron Beads (more below)

Hebron Beads (sometimes referred to as Kano Beads) are a form of glass trade bead which originate from the Holy city of Hebron in Palestine, which is a resting place of the patriarchs and matriarchs of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths. Hebron is also known for its history of glass-making which dates back to 63 BCE. Hebron Beads are typically donut-shaped with a course finish.

The earliest known beads produced in Hebron for trade were manufactured during the 18th Century. British explorer William George Brown references two different sizes of bead – Hershe and Munjir – produced in the region in his journal of 1799, with further observations detailing their course texture and rustic finish. Their eroded aesthetic derives from the fact that they are made with salts from the Dead Sea, and sand from the outlying village of Bani Na’im.

As trade networks developed between Africa, Palestine and Egypt in the early 1800s, Hebron’s glass-makers began producing beads exclusively for trade in foreign lands. They were particularly well received by the Igbo and Yoruba tribes of Kano, Nigeria, both of whom consider large, heavy beads to be indicative of wealth and social status. The Yoruba, however, noticed that the rough glass beads did not sit uniformly when strung upon a raffia, and so ground down the sides of the beads themselves using flattened stones. Early historians were originally of the impression the beads were produced by the Yoruba – hence the other commonly used name “Kano Beads”.