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A face that has watched for 2,500 years. Glass that came from Venice. Construction that takes a skilled hand and real time.
Sourced through a private gallery from West African craftspeople circa 2004, this is the most technically complex and historically layered piece in the collection — a necklace that brings together bead traditions spanning Phoenicia, Venice, and West Africa in a single carefully assembled strand.
At center: a large dark green ground oval bead bearing a bold white painted abstract face or mask motif with red accents — a face bead, one of the oldest and most collectible bead categories in human history. Face beads were first produced in Phoenicia around 500 BCE, became prestige objects throughout the ancient Mediterranean, and entered West African trade networks through Venetian and Portuguese traders from the 15th century onward. In Yoruba and broader West African traditions, the face bead is a protective object — the face watches, the presence guards.
Flanking the center: two matched large round cobalt blue beads with white painted swirling patterns and visible goldstone aventurina sparkle — copper crystals suspended in Venetian glass, a technique developed in the Murano workshops of the 17th century and among the most prized Venetian export materials to ever reach African markets.
The focal section is framed by an extraordinary three-strand woven construction — cobalt blue seed beads, amber transparent seeds, and tiny blue-and-white striped chevron rondelles interlaced in a sophisticated pattern that represents significant skilled labor. This construction format — multiple strands woven together to frame central prestige beads — is associated with high-status West African bead assemblage from Ghana and Nigeria. Emerald green glass rounds serve as transition markers throughout.
The back strand is continuous black glass seed beads with a metal barrel clasp. Approximately 17 inches choker length.
Every element of this piece is intentional: the face bead watches, the blue grounds the divine, the green marks prosperity, the amber carries vitality, the woven construction announces that whoever wore this was worth the labor.
One owner since gallery acquisition 2004.
