Koli, Cori, Segi, Aggrey Beads? Blue, Cylindrical Beads on 26-inch Strand

Koli, Cori, Segi, Aggrey Beads? Blue, Cylindrical Beads on 26-inch Strand

SKU: AFS-446
Sale price $275.00

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Description

  • Strand of blue beads acquired from a serious collector
  • At least some of the beads on this strand strongly resemble Kori and Aggrey beads in the Picard Bead Museum as well as images in African Beads, Jewels of a Continent by Evelyn Simak. The most authoritative & up to date book on the subject I have found.
  • The latest info supported by detailed glass analysis is that Kori beads were made in Nigeria by the Yoruba people, traded to the Portuguese, who made a fortune trading them to the Ashanti for gold. 
  • The name shifted over time, space, and languages from Kori or cori to segi or akori and eventually to aggrey. The whole story is too long for this short entry, but these beads fit the description of true Kori, though I haven't applied the "fire test" which has been used for centuries to tell real from fake Kori.
  • Another easier method to identify them that can't be faked is the hole size. It should be small and almost all beads on this strand have unusually small holes. 
  • The most likely beads to be "cooked" and otherwise manipulated to look like kori or aggrey beads are Fulani blue cylinders and they have large holes.