Early African Powder Glass
West Africans have been using old and scrap glass for their bead-making for over 1000 years. The glass is pounded into a fine powder - poured into clay moulds, in various sequences
to achieve the desired designs - then heated to fuse the particles together.
A leaf stem is placed in the centre of the mould, which burns away to leave the hole.
Over the last 400 years, the peoples of the Asante and Krobo tribal areas in Ghana have been the leading exponents of this art. Individual village production can be identified from the different colours and patterns and these older production beads are becoming very collectible.