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LOT 2128
African Terracotta Bead Group
12TH CENTURY A.D. OR LATER
26 3/4 - 28 3/4 in. (61 grams total, 68-73 cm long).
Restrung; composed of cream, beige and umber-coloured ribbed terracotta beads with some cylindrical beads. [10, No Reserve]
ProvenanceUK gallery, early 2000s.
LiteratureCf. Francis, P., Jr., ‘Beadmaking in Islam: The African Trade and the Rise of Hebron’ in BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers, 2, 1990, pp.15-28, plate D, for similar beads.
FootnotesThere are in Africa two main different beads used for the nacklaces: the mangour and the rougad-el-fagah. The first is a round glass bead exported from Galilee, green, or yellow, or black and speckled. The rougad-el-fagah is larger, smoother and more beautiful. The mangour is about the size of an ordinary nut and the rougad-el-fagah of a larger nut. Both are of terracotta covered with a glaze like that of faience. But the rougad-el-fagah is of more perfect work, better glazed and looks most agreeable and expensive. The mangour is rough, crinkled on the surface and grossly glazed. It is also sold cheap.
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AUCTIONS:
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