African Amber, Antique Short Cylinder, Warm Mahogany Color with Decorative Cracks, 23x36mm
SKU: AFE-860
Sale price
$60.00
Shipping calculated at checkout
Out of stock
Description
- Medium large, dark, warm mahogany color antique African amber bead
- Short cylinder with decorative cracks, 23x36mm
- It take a long time for these beads to develop this rich color and the cracks, that are not structural, but surface only due to very gradual shrinking of the material.
- The material these vintage/antique beads are made of is an early synthetic called phenolic thermosetting resin. It was developed in 1910. Bakelite is the best known brand among several European manufacturers producing faux amber beads, jewelry and household products before World War II.
- Phenolic resin amber beads probably started coming to Africa as a substitute for real Baltic amber in the 1920s and 1930s and trade lasted into the 1950s according to recent research by Rosanna Falabella.
- Several generations of newer resin beads have followed, some better than others, at a variety of prices, but none can approach the beauty and durability of the original phenolic resins which are now almost 100 years old, and wear it well.