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The Ubiquitous European Glass Trade Bead

Posted on 31. May, 2010 by Shannon Graham in Archeological Excavations, Artifact Finds, Beads, Europe, Miscellaneous

This article was authored and submitted by John Garrett (a.k.a. Mojave)

This article is for those who have occasioned across early American Glass Trade Beads. Hopefully information here will help individuals recognize, identify, and understand these colorful artifacts that have come to symbolize the illustrious history of the North American trade era. Many thanks are owed to Tony Baker who provided valuable review of this paper.

Humans have made beads for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians, Arabs, Chinese, and Native Americans made beads from wood, shell, bone, steatite (soapstone,) bronze, copper, and myriad other materials including glass.

Before introduction into the Americas, a robust trade industry involving European-made glass beads existed with Africa as early as the 1400s. The lack of a glassmaking industry in Africa led to the high value of the colorful decorative beads. The adornment’s unique appeal led to the manufacture and shipment of tons of the sought after beads. Barrels full of beads were used as ballast on slave trade ships during voyages to Africa, being replaced with the human cargo for the return trips. It was only a matter of time before the growing demand, improving manufacturing methods, and expanding global trade enterprises would result in immense distributions of beads in the New World from coast to coast and from the Arctic to South America.

In October, 1492, Christopher Columbus greeted the inhabitants of San Salvador with, among other offerings, glass beads. Cortez delivered thousands of beads to Mexico in 1519. Several other early explorers also provided trade beads at various locations throughout the 1500s. For a short time in 1622 a glass bead factory operated in Jamestown, Virginia. From the founders of Spanish missions, to early Russian traders crossing the Bering, to Lewis and Clarke exploring the interior, glass beads were brought for trade with the natives.

Most of the beads that arrived in this hemisphere did so in the 1700s and 1800s through trading companies like the Hudson’s Bay Company. HBC as it is now known had a vigorous trade in the Hudson Bay and throughout Canada by the late 1680s. By the 1820s much of the trade was focused on the Northwest from Alaska down along the coast to Northern California.

Throughout this period many of the beads were made in Italy and in Bohemia and neighboring areas. Many of the beads that were finished in what is now the Czech Republic and Austria were cut and polished from rods drawn in Italy. Because of the movement of manufacturers and varieties of bead styles and materials it is very difficult to determine the exact ages of most styles of beads. In the far-western North America several specific styles dominated the Indian trade though. These styles and many others have been found all over the continent in forts, missions (including the Alamo,) and other sites wherever trade occurred with Indians.

In the Northwest one of the most common varieties is the “quartz” bead, Fig 1. Actually a misnomer, the quartz bead was made from white glass. A very closely related but much rarer example is the black glass bead. These are thought to come from the famous Italian bead factories although many are from Dutch sources where they were made between 1600 and 1750. Beads made from quartz crystal, which these were presumably made to replicate, are much more uncommon.

Figure 1, Solid Glass Trade Beads

The “Green Heart” shown in Figure 2, is named for the translucent green glass center. The outer layer is an opaque reddish-brown glass. Made in the Venetian factories, most of these come from the 1700s although they were made in Italy from 1600 to 1830.

Figure 2, Greenheart Beads

The “White Heart” bead style, shown in Figure 3, is another two-layer bead with a bright red outside layer with an opaque white interior. These are commonly referred to as the “Cournalene d’Aleppo” bead. There are different theories as to where this name came from. The related Yellow Heart beads have a yellow interior color. These are the beads most commonly associated with the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Figure 3, Cournalene d'Aleppo Beads

The “Blue Russian” bead, shown in Figure 4, is generally regarded as coming from Bohemia and Austria. These faceted beads have been found with many variations. Although the translucent cobalt-blue is the most common, they were also made with light opaque blue as well as translucent white and green. They were mostly made in the 1800s.

Figure 4, Russian Blue Faceted Beads

The cobalt blue “Padre” beads, in figure 5, acquired their name because they were favored by the Spanish priests of the Southwest missions. Many of these are thought to have been made in China. Later, Czech factories copied them.

Figure 5, Blue Padre Beads

The wide distribution of European glass trade bead styles is illustrated in this TARL collections photograph depicting similar beads excavated from the Mission Esprítu Santo near present-day Goliad, Texas.

Many additional resources and societies exist that provide readily available research information on trade beads and the early trade era.

Rings & Things
Galerie Ezakwantu
The Fur Trapper
WhiteOak.org
The Bead Site

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