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A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under to over in diameter. Beads represent some of the earliest forms of jewellery, with a pair of beads made from '' Nassarius'' sea snail shells dating to approximately 100,000 years ago thought to be the earliest known example.
Beadwork Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth. Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary b ...
is the art or craft of making things with beads. Beads can be woven together with specialized
thread Thread may refer to: Objects * Thread (yarn), a kind of thin yarn used for sewing ** Thread (unit of measurement), a cotton yarn measure * Screw thread, a helical ridge on a cylindrical fastener Arts and entertainment * ''Thread'' (film), 2016 ...
, strung onto thread or soft, flexible wire, or adhered to a surface (e.g. fabric, clay).


Types of beads

Beads can be divided into several types of overlapping categories based on different criteria such as the materials from which they are made, the process used in their manufacturing, the place or period of origin, the patterns on their surface, or their general shape. In some cases, such as
millefiori Millefiori () is a glasswork technique which produces distinctive decorative patterns on glassware. The term millefiori is a combination of the Italian words "mille" (thousand) and "fiori" (flowers). Apsley Pellatt in his book ''Curiosities of ...
and cloisonné beads, multiple categories may overlap in an interdependent fashion.


Components

Beads can be made of many different materials. The earliest beads were made of a variety of natural materials which, after they were gathered, could be readily drilled and shaped. As humans became capable of obtaining and working with more difficult materials, those materials were added to the range of available substances. In modern manufacturing, the most common bead materials are wood, plastic, glass, metal, and stone.


Natural materials

Beads are still made from many naturally occurring materials, both organic (i.e., of animal- or plant-based origin) and inorganic (purely mineral origin). However, some of these materials now routinely undergo some extra processing beyond mere shaping and drilling such as color enhancement via
dyes A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and ...
or irradiation. The natural organics include bone, coral,
horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
, ivory, seeds (such as tagua nuts),
animal shell An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the l ...
, and wood. For most of human history pearls were the ultimate precious beads of natural origin because of their rarity; the modern pearl-culturing process has made them far more common. Amber and
jet Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus a ...
are also of natural organic origin although both are the result of partial fossilization. The natural inorganics include various types of stones, ranging from
gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...
s to common minerals, and metals. Of the latter, only a few
precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lustre. ...
s occur in pure forms, but other purified base metals may as well be placed in this category along with certain naturally occurring alloys such as electrum.


Synthetic materials

The oldest-surviving synthetic materials used for bead making have generally been ceramics: pottery and glass. Beads were also made from ancient alloys such as
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
and brass, but as those were more vulnerable to oxidation they have generally been less well-preserved at archaeological sites. Many different subtypes of glass are now used for beadmaking, some of which have their own component-specific names.
Lead crystal Lead glass, commonly called crystal, is a variety of glass in which lead replaces the calcium content of a typical potash glass. Lead glass contains typically 18–40% (by weight) lead(II) oxide (PbO), while modern lead crystal, historically als ...
beads have a high percentage of lead oxide in the glass formula, increasing the refractive index. Most of the other named glass types have their formulations and patterns inseparable from the manufacturing process. Small, colorful, fusible plastic beads can be placed on a solid plastic-backed peg array to form designs and then melted together with a clothes iron; alternatively, they can be strung into necklaces and bracelets or woven into keychains. Fusible beads come in many colors and degrees of transparency/
opacity Opacity or opaque may refer to: * Impediments to (especially, visible) light: ** Opacities, absorption coefficients ** Opacity (optics), property or degree of blocking the transmission of light * Metaphors derived from literal optics: ** In lingu ...
, including varieties that glow in the dark or have internal glitter; peg boards come in various shapes and several geometric patterns. Plastic toy beads, made by chopping plastic tubes into short pieces, were introduced in 1958 by Munkplast AB in
Munka-Ljungby Munka-Ljungby is a locality situated in Ängelholm Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom ...
, Sweden. Known as
Indian bead Indian bead is a colloquial American term for a fossilized stem segment of a columnal crinoid, a marine echinoderm of the class Crinoidea. The fossils, generally a centimeter or less in diameter, tend to be cylindrical with a small hole (either op ...
s, they were originally sewn together to form ribbons. The pegboard for bead designs was invented in the early 1960s (patented 1962, patent granted 1967) by Gunnar Knutsson in Vällingby, Sweden, as a therapy for elderly homes; the pegboard later gained popularity as a toy for children. The bead designs were glued to cardboard or Masonite boards and used as trivets. Later, when the beads were made of polyethylene, it became possible to fuse them with a flat iron. Hama come in three sizes: mini (diameter 2 mm), midi (5 mm) and maxi (10 mm). Perler beads come in two sizes called classic (5 mm) and biggie (10 mm). Pyssla beads (by
IKEA IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been t ...
) only come in one size (5 mm).


Manufacturing

Modern mass-produced beads are generally shaped by carving or casting, depending on the material and desired effect. In some cases, more specialized metalworking or glassworking techniques may be employed, or a combination of multiple techniques and materials may be used such as in cloisonné.


Glassworking

Most glass beads are pressed glass, mass-produced by preparing a molten batch of glass of the desired color and pouring it into molds to form the desired shape. This is also true of most plastic beads. A smaller and more expensive subset of glass and lead crystal beads are cut into precise faceted shapes on an individual basis. This was once done by hand but has largely been taken over by precision machinery. "Fire-polished" faceted beads are a less expensive alternative to hand-cut faceted glass or crystal. They derive their name from the second half of a two-part process: first, the glass batch is poured into round bead molds, then they are faceted with a grinding wheel. The faceted beads are then poured onto a tray and briefly reheated just long enough to melt the surface, "polishing" out any minor surface irregularities from the grinding wheel.


Specialized glass techniques and types

There are several specialized glassworking techniques that create a distinctive appearance throughout the body of the resulting beads, which are then primarily referred to by the glass type. If the glass batch is used to create a large massive block instead of pre-shaping it as it cools, the result may then be carved into smaller items in the same manner as stone. Conversely, glass artisans may make beads by
lampworking Lampworking is a type of glasswork in which a torch or lamp is used to melt the glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand movements. It is also known as flameworking or torchworking, as the moder ...
the glass on an individual basis; once formed, the beads undergo little or no further shaping after the layers have been properly annealed. Most of these glass subtypes are some form of
fused glass Glass fusing is the joining together of pieces of glass at high temperature, usually in a kiln. This is usually done roughly between and , and can range from ''tack fusing'' at lower temperatures, in which separate pieces of glass stick together ...
, although goldstone is created by controlling the reductive atmosphere and cooling conditions of the glass batch rather than by fusing separate components together. Dichroic glass beads incorporate a semitransparent microlayer of metal between two or more layers.
Fibre optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to ...
glass beads have an eyecatching chatoyant effect across the grain. There are also several ways to fuse many small glass canes together into a multicolored pattern, resulting in
millefiori Millefiori () is a glasswork technique which produces distinctive decorative patterns on glassware. The term millefiori is a combination of the Italian words "mille" (thousand) and "fiori" (flowers). Apsley Pellatt in his book ''Curiosities of ...
beads or
chevron bead Chevron beads are special glass beads; the first Sample (material), specimens of this type were created by glass bead makers in Venice and Murano, Italy, toward the end of the 14th century. They may also be referred to as ''rosetta,'' or star beads ...
s (sometimes called "trade beads"). "Furnace glass" beads encase a multicolored core in a transparent exterior layer which is then annealed in a furnace. More economically, millefiori beads can also be made by limiting the patterning process to long, narrow canes or rods known as murrine. Thin cross-sections, or "decals", can then be cut from the murrine and fused into the surface of a plain glass bead.


Shapes

Beads can be made in variety of shapes, including the following, as well as tubular and oval-shaped beads.


Round

This is the most common shape of beads that are strung on wire to create necklaces, and bracelets. The shape of the round beads lay together and are pleasing to the eye. Round beads can be made of glass, stone, ceramic, metal, or wood.


Square or Cubed

Square beads can be to enhance a necklace design as a spacer however a necklace can be strung with just square beads. The necklaces with square beads are used in
Rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...
necklaces/prayer necklaces, and wooden or shell ones are made for beachwear.


Hair pipe beads

Elk rib bones were the original material for the long, tubular
hair pipe A Hair pipe is a term for an elongated bead, more than 1.5 inches long, which are popular with American Indians, particularly from the Great Plains and Northwest Plateau. History In 1878, Joseph H. Sherburne became a trader to the Ponca peopl ...
beads. Today these beads are commonly made of
bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...
and water buffalo bones and are popular for breastplates and chokers among
Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of N ...
. Black variations of these beads are made from the animals' horns.


Seed beads

Seed beads are uniformly shaped spheroidal or tube shaped beads ranging in size from under a millimetre to several millimetres. "Seed bead" is a generic term for any small bead. Usually rounded in shape, seed beads are most commonly used for
loom A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but th ...
and off-loom bead weaving.


Place or period of origin

African trade beads or slave beads may be antique beads that were manufactured in Europe and used for trade during the colonial period, such as chevron beads; or they may have been made in West Africa by and for Africans, such as Mauritanian Kiffa beads, Ghanaian and Nigerian
powder glass beads Powder glass beads are a type of necklace ornamentation. The earliest such beads were discovered during archaeological excavations at Mapungubwe in South Africa, and dated to between 970-1000 CE. Manufacturing of the powder glass beads is now conc ...
, or African-made brass beads. Archaeologists have documented that as recently as the late-nineteenth century beads manufactured in Europe continued to accompany exploration of Africa using Indigenous routes into the interior. Austrian crystal is a generic term for cut lead-crystal beads, based on the location and prestige of the
Swarovski Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Austria, and has existed as a family-owned business since its founding in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski. The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal ...
firm. Czech glass beads are made in the Czech Republic, in particular an area called Jablonec nad Nisou. Production of glass beads in the area dates back to the 14th century, though production was depressed under communist rule. Because of this long tradition, their workmanship and quality has an excellent reputation. Islamic glass beads have been made in a wide geographical and historical range of Islamic cultures. Used and manufactured from
medieval Spain Spain in the Middle Ages is a period in the History of Spain that began in the 5th Century following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and ended with the beginning of the Early modern period in 1492. The history of Spain is marked by waves ...
and North Africa in the West and to China in the East, they can be identified by recognizable features, including styles and techniques. Vintage beads, in the collectibles and antique market, refers to items that are at least 25 or more years old. Vintage beads are available in materials that include lucite, plastic, crystal, metal and glass.


Miscellaneous ethnic beads

Tibetan
Dzi bead Dzi bead (Tib. གཟི།; pronounced "zee"; alternative spelling: ''gzi'') is a type of stone bead of uncertain origin worn as part of a necklace and sometimes as a bracelet. In several Central Asian cultures, including that of Tibet, the bead ...
s and
Rudraksha bead ''Rudraksha'' (IAST: ') refers to a stonefruit, the dried stones of which are used as prayer beads by Hindus (especially Shaivas), as well as by Buddhists and Sikhs. When they are ripe, ''rudraksha'' stones are covered by an inedible blue out ...
s are used to make Buddhist and Hindu rosaries ( malas).
Magatama are curved, comma-shaped beads that appeared in prehistoric Japan from the Final Jōmon period through the Kofun period, approximately 1000 BCE to the 6th century CE. The beads, also described as "jewels", were made of primitive stone and eart ...
are traditional
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese beads, and cinnabar was often used for making beads in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. Wampum are cylindrical white or purple beads made from quahog or North Atlantic channeled whelk shells by northeastern Native American tribes, such as the Wampanoag and Shinnecock. Job's tears are seed beads popular among southeastern Native American tribes.
Heishe Heishe or heishi (pronounced "hee shee") are small disc- or tube-shaped beads made of organic shells or ground and polished stones. They come from the Kewa Pueblo people (formerly Santo Domingo Pueblo) of New Mexico, before the use of metals in jew ...
are beads made of shells or stones by the Kewa Pueblo people of New Mexico.


Symbolic meaning of beads

In many parts of the world, beads are used for symbolic purposes, for example: * use for prayer or devotion - e.g.
rosary beads The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or ...
for Roman Catholics and many other Christians, misbaha for Shia and many other Muslims, japamala/nenju for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, some Sikhs, Confucianism,
Tao ''Tao'' or ''Dao'' is the natural order of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom, as conceived in the context of East Asian philosophy, East Asian religions, or any other philo ...
ists/ Daoists, Shinto, etc. * use for anti-tension devices, e.g. Greek
komboloi Worry beads or kombolói, kompoloi ( el, κομπολόι, , ''bead collection''; plural: , ) is a string of beads manipulated with one or two hands and used to pass time in Culture of Greece, Greek and culture of Cyprus, Cypriot culture. Unlike ...
, or worry beads. * use as currency e.g. Aggrey beads from Ghana * use for gaming e.g.
owari beads Owari may refer to: * The Owari Mandarin orange, a widely cultivated fruit of Japanese origin * Additional Japan-related topics: ** Owari House, a branch family of the Tokugawa clan that ruled Japan during the Edo era ** Owari Province, a former r ...
for
mankala The mancala games are a family of two-player turn-based strategy board games played with small stones, beans, or seeds and rows of holes or pits in the earth, a board or other playing surface. The objective is usually to capture all or some ...


History

Beads are thought to be one of the earliest forms of trade between members of the human race. It is believed that bead trading was one of the reasons why humans developed language. Beads are said to have been used and traded for most of human history. The oldest beads found to date were at Blombos Cave, about 72,000 years old, and at Ksar Akil in Lebanon, about 40,000 years old.


Surface patterns

After shaping, glass and crystal beads can have their surface appearance enhanced by etching a translucent frosted layer, applying an additional color layer, or both. ''Aurora Borealis'', or AB, is a surface coating that diffuses light into a rainbow. Other surface coatings are vitrail, moonlight, dorado, satin, star shine, and heliotrope. Faux beads are beads that are made to look like a more expensive original material, especially in the case of fake pearls and simulated rocks, minerals and
gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...
s. Precious metals and ivory are also imitated.
Tagua nut ''Phytelephas'' is a genus containing six known species of dioecious Arecaceae, palms (family (biology), family Arecaceae), occurring from southern Panama along the Andes to Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, northwestern Brazil, and Peru. They are com ...
s from South America are used as an ivory substitute since the natural
ivory trade The ivory trade is the commercial, often illegal trade in the ivory tusks of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, mammoth, and most commonly, African and Asian elephants. Ivory has been traded for hundreds of years by people in Africa and Asia, ...
has been restricted worldwide.


See also

* Fly tying#Bead (Spherical brass, tungsten, and glass beads are often used in Fly tying) * Glass beadmaking * Jewelry design * Mardi Gras beads *
Murano beads Murano beads are intricate glass beads influenced by Venetian glass artists. Since 1291, Murano glassmakers have refined technologies for producing beads and glasswork such as crystalline glass, enamelled glass (smalto), glass with threads of gold ...
* Pearl * Ultraviolet-sensitive bead


References


Further reading

* Beck, Horace (1928) "Classification and Nomenclature of Beads and Pendants." Archaeologia 77. (Reprinted by Shumway Publishers York, PA 1981) * Dubin, Lois Sherr. ''North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: From Prehistory to the Present''. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999: 170–171. . * Dubin, Lois Sherr. ''The History of Beads: From 100,000 B.C. to the Present, Revised and Expanded Edition''. New York: Harry N. Abrams, (2009). . {{beadwork Beadwork Craft materials Jewellery components