Category Archives: Ghanaian Beads

Agomanya Market – The Hub For Bead Trading in Ghana

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I’ve always wanted to visit Ghana. Not just to witness the fascinating process by which recycled glass beads are made, but also to wander the fabled markets of Agomanya and Koforidua – the largest bead and textile markets in Africa. Rumors abound about the treasures to be found among the many hundreds of stalls lining the streets of Agomanya, including 17th Century Chevrons, and the even more collectible French Cross Beads traded into the region during the 19th Century.

A woman demonstrates the process of bead cooking at Agomanya Market. The Advocacy Project/ Flickr.

A woman demonstrates the process of bead cooking at Agomanya Market. The Advocacy Project/ Flickr.

Agomanya lies roughly 5 km from Kpong on the Somanya Road in the Eastern Manya District of Ghana. It’s primarily a center for agricultural trade, but since the 1950′s, has become rather better known for its textiles and glass beads made by local Krobo artisans. Every Wednesday and Saturday, artisans flock to the area from nearby Odumase, Kpong and Asesewa, to display their wares which range from expertly carved effigies of traditional deities to antique and contemporary glass beads in just about every color you care to think of.

Thousands of recycled glass bead strands are arranged by color on market stalls. Kate Yaeger Rotramel/ Flickr.

Thousands of recycled glass bead strands are arranged by color on market stalls. Kate Yaeger Rotramel/ Flickr.

Beads are the primary allure for tourists to Agomanya. Strands of trade beads can be found for as little as ten Ghanaian Cedis (approximately $6), while strands of recycled glass beads tend to be much cheaper. Aware of tourist interest in Krobo bead production, some stall-holders offer demonstrations to show how old stained beads are transformed prior to resale. It’s actually a cunning technique known as “bead cooking”, whereby beads are heated in a pan of oil and water to alter the appearance of the skin, making them far newer and shinier in appearance. Ghana’s famous bead factory, Cedi’s, lies just a few kilometers from Agomanya, and provides a fascinating insight into the bead manufacturing process which has little changed in hundreds of years!

Antique Chevrons - just some of the many old trade beads to be found at the market. Terrie Shweitzer/ Flickr.

Antique Chevrons – just some of the many old trade beads to be found at the market. Terrie Shweitzer/ Flickr.

Aggrey Beads, and the Deceptive Art of Bead Cooking in Ghana

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There are so many different types of Recycled Glass Beads produced in Ghana today. From the fancy hand-painted Powder Glass Beads made to look like old Venetian Millefioris, to annular wound beads, similar to those shipped over from Europe in the 16th Century, there’s very little you can’t find in the markets at Adomanya and Koforidua. But, while the Akan ethnic groups of Ghana are considered artisans in their own right, there are some who employ cunning techniques to transform the appearance of plain old beads into something considered far more valuable: Aggrey Beads.

The origins of Aggrey Beads are still widely disputed, in part because the term “aggrey” also means “coral” in many Akan dialects. Historians believe the blue wound glass beads were named after the blue coral found in the waters off the Gold Coast, however, tribes such as the Fanti and Asante refer to this as “koli”, rather than aggrey.  The term “koli” is also widely used to refer to beads which are light blue in color. The discovery of light blue dichroic beads by archaeologists in Cairo, Egypt, offers the most likely explanation for the origins of Aggrey Beads, and yields some clue as to why they’re so highly sought after.

Opaque Blue Recycled Glass Beads

Opaque Blue Recycled Glass Beads

Aggrey Beads produced in Ghana today look much like the worn dichroic beads of old –  largely due to the bead cooking technique employed by market dealers and resellers. Translucent wound or pressed beads are placed together in a metal pot filled with water and organic matter. The beads are then cooked for up to an hour over a charcoal fire to alter their molecular structures.  This causes bubbles to rise to  the surface, and the outer skin of the bead becomes darker and more opaque. Imitation Aggrey Beads can be found in a wide spectrum of colors, and may also be called “koli” or “cori” beads by natives.

Introducing Cedi’s – One of Ghana’s Oldest Recycled Glass Bead Factories

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Bead kiln. BCWorks/ Flickr

Bead kiln. BCWorks/ Flickr

Have you ever wondered where your African Recycled Glass Beads come from? I get so many emails asking where Recycled Glass Beads originate, that I thought it was high time we dedicated a blog post to the subject. Well, more specifically, the tiny factory in Ghana, now supplying some of the biggest online retailers around the globe!

Located off a dirt track on the Sombaya Road, just two hours from Africa, Cedi’s isn’t exactly a well known landmark for tourists. A collective of small, quaint clay buildings with thatched roofs and billowing chimneys, the Cedi plant employs just twelve people across the three acre site. This tiny production plant was the brainchild of Nomoda Ebenizer Djaba, (known locally as Cedi) a bead-maker who learnt his craft from his grandfather in Odumase, Krobo. Keen to expand the family business, he developed the workshop almost a decade ago, and now supplies some of the leading online bead retailers in the US.

Workers at the site each have very specific roles. There are those who are charged with the tasking of grinding down recycled glass into a powder; others who prepare the elaborate clay molds, and bead-smiths, who are responsible for preparing and firing the beads in the termite kiln.

Despite its years in operation, bead production at the factory remains a largely manual process. The glass is crushed down in vast metal buckets with a heavy pole, and the kilns used for firing built by hand from termite clay. Sand-cast beads are washed in a mixture of water and sand to give them that beautiful eroded finish, and even the Fancy Powderglass Beads are painted by hand!

Bauxite Beads: A Semi-Precious Discovery

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Bauxite Necklace. Ann Porteus. Flickr.com

Bauxite Necklace. Ann Porteus. Flickr.com

Semi-precious African beads can really add class to your jewelry creations. But, as I know too well, being able to invest in such valuable beads isn’t always possible when you’re first starting out. Ever one for a bargain, I began searching for beads with similar aesthetics to semi-precious beads that were a little less expensive – and then I discovered Bauxite!

Bauxite is an aluminium ore, and the main element for aluminium sheeting. In its natural state, it is usually speckled or mottled in appearance, with orange and gray deposits. Colors can range from rust-brown to beautiful sunset hues, like salmon pink. Of course, being resourceful as they are, the people of Ghana have long known the beautiful properties of bauxite. Being a soft mineral, it’s relatively easy to manipulate into cylindrical shapes and tubes – the most common shapes of Bauxite Beads.

Ghanaians wear Bauxite Beads for some of their most important religious rites. At funerals, it’s customary for both the corpse, and the mourners to be adorned with beads for the rather bizarre practice of funeral wailing. Relatives and friends of the deceased unite in chanting “We’re going to chew abo” – loosely translated as “we’re going to bite the dust”. “Abo” means “of dust”, and in most parts of the Krobo, these beads are called “Abo Beads”.

Despite the fact Bauxite Beads are still produced in abundance in Ghana, there are quite a number of ceramic imitations circulating online. So, how do you tell the difference? Simply dampen your beads with a little water and sniff them. Real Bauxite Beads smell like fresh earth!

The Different Brass Bead Styles of West Africa

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Brass beads from Ghana

Ashante Brass Beads. Image credit: ZSM. Wikimedia.org

I’ve always been fascinated by the variation in styles of brass beads from West Africa. Given that nearly all are made using the same lost wax method of casting, it’s pretty interesting to learn how certain tribes have adopted the technique, and refined it, to create their own unique adornments.

Yoruba Brass Beads

Yoruba Brass Beads are rarely, if ever, made from pure brass. They are, in fact, made from a variety of base metals, then gilded with a thin coating of molten brass once cool. Yoruba beads are also far simpler in design compared to the elaborate cage beads produced by the Asante, often just a long, coiled tube with raised dots or

Wodaabe Tube Beads

Wodaabe Brass Beads are a rare find, but can be distinguished from most others by their elongated shape and large perforation hole. They are unique to other brass beads in that are produced as a hair adornment, and are often engraved to resemble a braided section of hair.

Igbo Bugs

Igbo Bugs are one of the oldest formats of African brass bead to have originally been used as currency for trade. They are an early type of spacer, so named because of their likeness to evil bed bugs which plague Nigerian villages during the summer. They are easily distinguished by their primitive appearance, and the bulbous brass ball fused onto the base.

Baule Brass Beads

Baule Brass Beads collectively define wound brass tube beads produced by the Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast. They are easily identifiable by the huge Adinkra sun and moon symbols incorporated into their design. “Abode Santen” (the sun) is said to symbolize peace, reverence and the continuity of life, whereas “Osram” (the moon) connotes faith, determination and patience.

Filigree Beads

A personal favorite, Brass Filigree Beads are without doubt the most ornate and elaborate of West African styles. They are generally hollow, with a woven, or cage-like outer structure. Ghana Brass Filigree Beads often feature designs of symbolic importance to the Krobo, such as the evil eye and six-point star.

I’m always on the lookout for other types of Brass Beads from West Africa to add to my hoard, so if you know of any more, please do share.