A Valuable Commodity
Native American Art Magazine|June - July 2020
The introduction of glass trade beads in Native North America made way for new horizons in bead-making.
- PAULA A. BAXTER
A Valuable Commodity

From the Atlantic seaboard to the Aleutian Islands, European glass trade beads were a potent cross-cultural currency. European explorers, missionaries, fur trappers, traders and colonists brought strings of these beads with them as they lay claim to the bounty of the North American continent. When bartering with the many Native peoples of the New World, beads were a more than successful substitute for coinage and paper notes. Glass beads also proved to be advantageous for gift-giving purposes as well.

Glass beads have a long history. The glass-making process began 3,500 years ago in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Under the Romans, improvements such as glass blowing pipes spread an active bead trade to the most remote regions of the Empire well up to 400 CE. Glass bead adornment disappeared during the more austere Christian era in Europe until it was revived by the Venetian Republic. In the late 15th century, glass makers on Murano Island restored Roman techniques and created cylindrical hollow glass canes. The first results, called Millefiori beads, eventually became prime candidates for trade to Africa and North America in the 16th century. By the start of the 1800s, Millefiori beads had multilayered wound mosaic stripes or flowers from glass canes molded and cut onto a solid colored core.

この蚘事は Native American Art Magazine の June - July 2020 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

この蚘事は Native American Art Magazine の June - July 2020 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

NATIVE AMERICAN ART MAGAZINEのその他の蚘事すべお衚瀺
Weaving History into Art
Native American Art Magazine

Weaving History into Art

The legacy of Cherokee artist Shan Goshorn is honored during an exhibition at the Gilcrease Museum.

time-read
3 分  |
December - January 2021
Visual Voices
Native American Art Magazine

Visual Voices

Briscoe Western Art Museum hosts a traveling exhibition dedicated to contemporary Chickasaw artwork through January 18.

time-read
3 分  |
December - January 2021
Through the Kaleidoscope
Native American Art Magazine

Through the Kaleidoscope

The beauty of color and design are on full display in the exhibition Through the Kaleidoscope at Exhibit C Native Gallery & Gifts in Oklahoma City.

time-read
2 分  |
December - January 2021
New Horizons
Native American Art Magazine

New Horizons

A new Native American-owned art gallery is set to open near the end of the year in Buffalo, New York, in the middle of the Allentown historic district.

time-read
3 分  |
December - January 2021
Keeping Art Alive
Native American Art Magazine

Keeping Art Alive

Galleries and dealers come together to bring World Tribal and Native American Art to homes through a virtual event.

time-read
2 分  |
December - January 2021
Nacimientos
Native American Art Magazine

Nacimientos

Every year near the holiday season, Adobe Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, holds its Native American Nacimientos exhibition.

time-read
1 min  |
December - January 2021
Expanded Audience
Native American Art Magazine

Expanded Audience

Cherokee Art Market welcomes collectors from all over the globe to its website for a virtual event from December 7 to 21.

time-read
2 分  |
December - January 2021
Larger Than Memory
Native American Art Magazine

Larger Than Memory

The Heard Museum presents a large collection of contemporary art from Indigenous North America.

time-read
3 分  |
December - January 2021
GOOD MEDICINE
Native American Art Magazine

GOOD MEDICINE

Navajo jeweler Boyd Tsosie brings his life and culture into his art.

time-read
4 分  |
December - January 2021
Charging Ahead
Native American Art Magazine

Charging Ahead

On view now at King Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is Charging Forward, a new two-artist show featuring the pottery of Kaa Folwell and the paintings of Derek No-Sun Brown.

time-read
2 分  |
December - January 2021