Month: March 2011

Art Seymour: The Man Reviving Chevron Bead Art in Ghana

Art Seymour, the pioneering mind behind the Share The Magic project currently in operation within Odumase Krobo, Ghana, attributes his “passion for glass” to a very early childhood memory. As an impressionable 5 year old, Art enjoyed nothing more than visiting his grandmother’s house, particularly due to the fascinating array of curios she had accumulated through her lifetime. One of these would instill an obsession, that later became his sole purpose for breathing. That object was a paper-weight. One of the prism-like desk variety, that most will have at one point or another seen in antique, thrift or charity stores gathering dust.

Fascinated by the intense colours, light refraction and almost “edible” richness created by the colored glass, Art would later find his childhood memory becoming sole inspiration for reviving a long-considered dead art-form – Chevron bead-making.

For those unfamiliar with Chevron beads; they are a product of the merchant trade era, originally produced within Venice, and transported to Africa by merchants plying trade en route to bigger destinations such as the Americas. A type of African trade beads, they are created using the ‘cane technique’, that is, the adhering of several long glass canes in a step-by-step manner, to create star and stripe beads of magnificent colorings. Such beads became a treasure for the people of Ghana, during a period when Venetian trade beads were regarded as more than just pretty jewelry objects – they were currency!

Art Seymour commenced a revival of Chevron bead-making from his own workshop in Nevada. Already producing Murano-like pieces for ornamental purposes, his expertise led to the experimentation with the cane technique. As word of his expertise spread, so too did interest in his wares for retail, prompting yet another inspiration. Taking Chevron bead creation, back to the country who still regard these beads as treasure. That country was Ghana, and so, the Share The Magic Project was born.

Partnering with an extremely well known Ghanaian bead ‘master’ known as

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Yellow Jacket Striped Chevron Beads

Nomoda E. Djaba (Cedi bead factory), Art Seymour set about refining a bead production process in 2008, that would utilize the present powder glass bead-making methods currently used in Ghana. The process created brand new molds, setting and cooling techniques through trial and error with two engineering associates on-hand for scientific purposes. This refinement then saw the first of two phases completed, as the lab was packed up and taken to Ghana.

The second phase of Share The Magic Project in March 2008 was funded by the sale of Seymour’s bead creations (many limited edition.) The trip was focused upon the building of a “hot glass facility” and education center at Odumase Krobo, that would allow the teaching of Seymour’s learned techniques. So the ‘Hands Across The Water’ phase of Share The Magic was rolled out, and is still in operation today, teaching and providing Ghanaian citizens with the skills to produce stunning multi-colored Chevrons, that are now again, as collectible and prized as they were in the 19th Century!

Vaseline Trade Beads: A Radioactive Discovery?

We are proud to share with you the most comprehensive background on those beautiful beads known as Vaseline trade beads.

The ‘radioactive era’ as some refer to it was a period between the early

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Yellow Vaseline Beads

1900’s, up to 1930 when a number of distinctive discoveries and advancements influenced an obsession with all things ‘radioactive’. It was German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth who first discovered Uranium in 1789, however later revelations from French physicist Antoine Becquerel in 1896 proved that Klaproth had not isolated the metallic element – which we now know influences color under ultraviolet light.

Marie and Pierre Curie’s work superseded these scientific announcements with the pioneering discovery of Radium in 1898. Interestingly, Marie Curie’s work which extended to developing x-ray technology and radiography, won her two Nobel Prize Awards. Her work assisted in helping the treatment of soldiers during World War I, which is probably why she was also the first prize winner to be award two consecutive prizes, for two different types of work – chemistry and physics.

The trend for radioactive chemicals being used for decorative and everyday objects began around 1905. Everything from blown glass vases, to clock-faces, earthenware, pottery and Vaseline Beads were being made with the fluorescing properties of Uranium. Uranium influences an intense yellow-green, or violent green depending upon the kind of light it is subjected to, and appears to glow immensely in ultraviolet light.

Prior to the official discovery of Uranium as an isolated element, the compound was already being used (it is thought) within the production of glass trade beads. Several collections of faceted Vaseline Beads have been discovered, and are thought to date back to the 1830’s – all feature the yellow-green characteristics attributed to the Vaseline Beads of the early 1900’s. Vaseline Beads are often regarded as a product of Africa, however were first produced within Bohemia – now Czechoslovakia.

The fascination with radioactivity between 1905 and 1915 prompted a period of mass production for Vaseline Trade Beads, and not just within Bohemia. Several other countries, including England and Italy were also caught up with the fascinating properties Uranium salts influenced. Interestingly, it was only a concentration of 1-2% Uranium salts to a glass mold that would offset the chemical reaction that produces the green-yellow aesthetic.

Authentic Vaseline Beads produced around the late 1800’s/ early 1900’s are distinct due to their shape. Rondelles and discs were by far the most common shapes, however it is not unusual to uncover some with cut facets. Later replicas of Vaseline Beads were produced without Uranium (since later science also uncovered the possible harmful effects of radiation), and can be found in multiple hues. The Uranium was replaced with oxides or dyes during the molding process, and manual manipulation used to replicate the fluorescing qualities of Uranium.