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20x15mm Tube (5) - Phenolic Amber - Vintage Replica Trade Bead

$10.00 AUD

We have run out of stock for this item.


Description

Gorgeous buttery yellow beads made in the style of old African trade beads which used to be made from Amber.

The style of these large, boldly coloured beads is very unique.  They were sometimes used alone as features, or between other beads such as turquoise, wood & bone; you will also often see the log shapes with large bead caps either side which give them an entirely different & unique look.

Beads like these are usually either bakelite, lucite, resin or phenolic resin, probably made in Czech Republic, for sending to Africa for trade bead stock.

We don’t have any information about our beautiful beads in this style, except for what we can glean from the internet.

This style of bead was first manufactured around 1920s - ours could be from stock that old, but we lean more towards them being phenolic resin (sometimes called PF) and made around 1950s.

Quantity per pack:  5 beads

Here is a great website for testing amber -v- bakelite -v- resin  https://preadored.com/how-to-test-amber-and-bakelite/

And the very best, most accurate information seems to be here:  https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1261&context=beads