Baule king beads

King Baoulé bead necklace – Venice – (origin: Kumasi, Ghana)

In 1865 the Levin Company, a British company specialized in overseas trade, listed those biconical opaque glass beads that collectors now call king beads among those best accepted by West African miners in barter with gold dust. These were beads made by flame (lampwork technique) on the island of Murano that the Levin Company included among the Wound Glass beads. They were manufactured using varied colors and designs, but those that achieved the highest price were the King Baoulé, characterized by being dark and dotted with yellow and reddish details.
The necklace we present at Black Market consists of 68 beads (between 11 and 16 mm Ø), 65 of which are King Baoulé and the rest Striped King (another Venetian bicone), strung on 98 cm of raffia cord.

Weight: 210g