The Kiffa Story - in Conclusion

All the family were present on our return .. mainly ladies and children spanning three or four generations .. and tradition dictated that the beads we would buy should be bargained for.

 Ghayda and her sister are two lovely young Mauritanian ladies in their twenties. Unfortunately custom dictates that neither were we allowed to shake their hands nor could I take photographs of their faces or pictures of the other female members of their family.
But take my word for it .. they are both graceful, talented and beautiful.

The friendly bargaining began, amidst displays of mock horror at their first prices and light-hearted attempts at distraction with offers of marriage .. given by me in French, translated into Hasaniya by our good friend and local guide Ardo .. and almost accepted by them with shy giggles which were somewhat lost amongst hoots of laughter from the family !!

Darkness had fallen by the time we finished the negotiations. Ensuring that we willingly ended up paying way over the local market rate for the beads .. we gave out presents of torches, sweets to the children and Ouguyia to Mum and her daughters to show our gratitude for their kindness. As we were about to leave, Ghaydha called a hush to the proceedings and thanked us so sincerely in Hasaniya for our visit and for keeping our promise to return and collect the beads, that it was an emotional moment when I returned our thanks to her and her family.

Those that have not experienced a love of Africa can perhaps not understand these emotions, those of you who do understand, will know the feelings one often gets on such occasions. Standing under a starry African sky amongst new friends .. so far removed from one's own lifestyle .. but equally and obviously sharing very similar appreciations despite the language barriers, has to be one of life's riches. Such people are so good to count as one's friends.

Mum then kindly gave us presents of other strands of beads ( below ) that had been somewhat outrageously 'first priced' and had been left out of our negotiations .. and we departed amongst a chorus of farewells from them, mixed with our thanks and promises to return .. we surely will.

Questions still remain after our visit, which will hopefully be answered during a future visit .. unless anyone has sufficient knowledge of glass and bead making technology to be able to answer them now :
-
Why is it seemingly impossible for the ladies of Kiffa to recreate the very fine decorative patterns of early beads? Is it due to differences between how finely modern glass and glass of the early 20th century can be ground into powder ?
-
What difference would the use of saliva only, or a saliva and gum arabic solution, make to the finished bead, as opposed to the gum arabic and water solution used nowadays ?
-
Did the early beads also have a high gloss finish when first made ( doubtful, as no glossy ones are seen, despite those occasionally found in pristine condition ) or is it the high gloss of modern beads which can recreate itself after having been ground and re-fired ?
-
Why were the skills of the early bead-making ladies not passed on to their daughters ?
-
Knowing the resourcefulness of Africans, especially when most in the trade know of the value and scarcity of the old beads, is it not surprising that finer-lined patterns and traditional, more regular shapes, are not being produced ?
-
Food for thought and future experimentation with our friends in Kiffa.

Some of the beads seen in this report and many more .. both old and new .. have been added to the other beads which are offered for sale on our Kiffa pages.

************************

Addendum

In the early 2000's, following an upsurge in collectors' interest, Mauritanian Kiffas were produced in large quantities. I witnessed literally sackfull's of strands of modern, but very rough, orange-coloured Kiffas being transported across West Africa from dealer to dealer.
At first they sold because of their novelty value .. but sales soon declined, except for those few that were of better quality or colour .. similar to those I was privileged to witness being made.

Up to this present day, rumours and stories abound as to where these poor quality beads might have come from and whether different techniques could have been used to make them.

There is no mystery. With rough decoration and poor 'cooking', full of air holes and faults .. they are simply badly made Mauritanian Kiffa .. produced in a hurry by poorly skilled people, who were trying to jump on the bandwagon of Kiffa popularity ... to make a quick buck !

Buyer beware, as they gradually re-emerge onto the bead markets all over the world,
from sizeable stocks that some dealers still have ... and desperately want to get rid of !

In later years, Ghana and Indonesia have attempted a few Kiffa-like copies .. but they are so different to Mauritanian-made ones, there is very little difficulty in recognising their origins.