Favorite Very Blue Glass Medium Nila Beads, Mali - Rita Okrent Collection (AT0422n)

Our favorite very blue (with teal) ancient medium nila beads in a lovely mix. These Islamic era glass beads come from Mali but may have been made elsewhere and traded there hundreds of years ago. This strand has a lovely mix of very blue with some beads with nice wear giving it a beachy feel.

26 inches / 67 cm of beads. These beads measure 6-13mm diameter and 2-5mm hole to hole. Approximately 150 beads on this strand. You will receive the strand in this listing.

A gorgeous strand!

More info: Nila beads are the small monochrome Islamic glass beads than can be found in colors ranging from blue, green, red, black, white to yellow that are widespread in West Africa. They are also referred to as Indo-Pacific or Trade Winds beads, in reference to the ocean streams and winds that, for centuries, were used by the Arab merchant ships bringing them from India to Africa. They often have oxidization patina from burial and age. Large quantities have been found along the river banks of the Niger river in Mali and buried in large quantities in clay pots, used as a form of currency. They are also found in the ground in parts of West Africa and Southeast Asia. The name "Nila" comes from the Sanskrit term for indigo.

As bead researcher and expert, Robert K. Liu writes in Ornament Magazine: “The term Islamic Period Glass Beads is used, similarly to Roman Period Beads, to classify groups of ornaments from specific geographic areas and time periods, with recognizable characteristics including patterns and techniques. Islamic glass beads traveled from their sources of production in the Middle and Near East together with the expansion of Islam to North Africa, Southern Europe (Spain), India and the Far East and they reached areas well beyond Islam’s actual limits of expansion such as Northern Europe. They also flowed into Sub-Saharan Africa, where they were valued and cherished for centuries in the Malian ancient kingdoms as a symbol of status and played an important role in the communities’ rites and ceremonies such a burials, initiation or dowries.

As per bead expert, Jamey Allen: Islamic Period beads are ca. 1000 years old. Dating from between ca CD 900-1200. They might be as early as CE 700, and as late as 1400. In 1400, Western Asian glass industries were destroyed by Tamerlane. And soon after, Egypt desisted as well. This is when Venice stepped in and became the glass maker for all of Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.

African Item 0422n