African people have used beads for ritual and decorative purpose for hundreds of years. In ancient African graves, beads and beaded necklaces have been found buried with kings and chiefs. The Ashanti reasoned that powdered glass beads were worth their weight in gold and that certain beads held supernatural protective powers. The Yoruba people believed that buried beads would grow in the ground and multiply. The most popular trading items brought over by the Europeans in the 16th century were beads and thousands of pounds of beads were exchanged. Until the 20th century no other continent imported as many beads or yielded as many different types of its own. The abundance of the shear variety of shapes, colors and materials used is overwhelming. None though is as popular as the glass bead. Named after their discoidal shape these semi precious donuts were hand made from old, clear and matte glass in the African country of Gambia. Strung upon a heavy fiber cord some of the beads feature pithing from age.

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Dimensions: 19 5/8 inch hang length. 

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