Bodom beads

Bodom bead necklace –Ashanti Country– (origin: Koforidúa, Ghana)

When in the mid-15th century João de Santarem discovered that the Pra River basin (western region of present-day Ghana) hid the most productive gold mines in the known world, an intense commercial relationship began between Portugal and Denkyira, the Akan kingdom that then he controlled the region.
In 1485 the Portuguese built the Castelo da Mina (later called São Jorge da Mina), an impressive fortification near the mouth of the river where, from then on, all commercial activity would be centered. That was the moment when murrine arriving from Italy began to be accepted in exchange for gold dust. The Mosaic, Bicone and Chevron type beads ended up becoming authentic symbols of power and prestige among the Akan elites.
At the beginning of the 18th century, European glass was expensive and demand exceeded supply and, to remedy this, the first local glass furnaces were created, already under Ashanti rule, in the Ghanaian region of Ahafo.
African production copied the shapes of the most appreciated beads with simple techniques. For example, following Venetian "rolling" techniques, Ghanaian glassmakers obtained almost spherical beads, known as bodón, which competed quite successfully (and with dignity) with the murrine beads brought from Italy.
At Black Market we have a necklace of new bodom beads. It is a string of 36 large bicone-type beads (between 24 and 33 mm Ø) strung on 110 cm cotton thread.

Weight: 1kg