Nine Jumbo Green Ghana Glass Beads

Glass beads have been made for centuries throughout Africa. Using a technique that has been handed down from generation to generation, glass makers begin by compressing glass into a dry grain, and heating the grain so that the pieces form together. The recycled glass is rushed into a porcelain cast. The stem of a cassava leaf is used to make the hole. The beads are baked in a furnace causing the glass to melt together and cassava stem to burn, leaving only the grainy textured "sand glass" bead behind. These beads were made by members of Ghana's Krobo Tribe in Western Africa. Beads have played an important role in the cultural life of many communities throughout the Continent of Africa, and remain to this day a symbol of wealth and a form of currency, and as weights and measures tools.

There are nine green jumbo beads in this set and they range from 38mm to 18mm in size. They all have faceted edges making them different polygonal shapes and have a center drilled hole. They all have crazing and some chipping around the holes which might indicate they have been used for something like weights or ballast. The green jumbos would work in making wind chimes or even put in a fish tank for interesting fishy cover. All total there is 7.3 ounces of glass beads in this lot.