Antique Roman or Islamic Beads from the African Trade, Set of 3
SKU: AFE-1414
Sale price
$65.00
Shipping calculated at checkout
Only 1 in stock
Description
- These beads are priced and sold by the set of 3
- Three Roman, or Islamic, glass beads of the type that used to be found on strands of trade beads in the 1960s. Blue or Black base with white eye designs.
- Cylinders 13x9mm and 14x11mm
- The eye design has been a perennial favorite through the ages. Although these designs look very similar I think they are from different eras, and makers
- Roman glass dates from 1st to 5th century AD, while Islamic glass is from 7th to 15th century AD, at which time the Venetians began dominating the bead trade.
- Rome ruled the coast of North Africa from Egypt to the Atlantic ocean from about 150 BC until about 500 AD so it's not surprising that a few Roman beads would be mixed into the early strands of Venetian trade beads, the first of which came to the US from Morocco in the 1960s.
- Not long after the Romans decamped from northern Africa, Islam began streaming across the Sahara with traders and warriors who also carried the faith, and beads.