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The best and broadest reference on the origins and uses of beads available to date. Written to encourage collectors, it explores the importance of beads in their native settings in Europe, the Middle East, India, the Far East, Southeast Asia, North and South America and Africa. Beads of organic, stone, and glass materials are individually discussed, and newly revised values are provided to help the collector.
Beads are the oldest and most widespread form of art. They have been made from all materials in every corner of the globe. Their uses are innumerable. They do not just decorate people, but many other things as well. Moreover, they function as status symbols, magic charms, and are helpful to us in many other ways. While there have always been people interested in beads, the lack of information on them has restricted their collecting. A few years ago there were only a handful of small bead societies and very little on beads in print. That is now changing rapidly; bead societies are being formed at an astounding rate around the U.S. and abroad. As with all collectibles, as interest in them grow...
This fascinating study is the first detailed description of the ancient and enduring trade in beads that spans more than two millennia and once stretched from the Middle East to East Asia and affected areas as far apart as West Africa and the American Pacific coast. Beads are universal and among the earliest art forms. Made of glass, semiprecious stone, or precious organic materials such as amber and coral, they were ubiquitous in the ancient world, serving as decorations, magical charms, mnemonic and counting devices, symbols of wealth and status. Much of the ancient bead trade was incorporated in Asian maritime commerce, and many of the beads involved have Asian origins. Peter Francis, Jr....
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