Ghanaian Glass Beads

Glass beads have been made for centuries throughout Africa. Using a technique that has been handed down from generation to generation, makers begin by compressing glass into a dry grain, and heating the grain so that the pieces form together. The recycled glass is rushed into a porcelain cast. The stem of a cassava leaf is used to make the hole. The beads are baked in a furnace causing the glass to melt together and cassava stem to burn, leaving only the grainy textured "sandglass" bead behind. Makers are members of Ghana's Krobo Tribe in Western Africa. Beads have played an important role in the cultural life of many communities throughout the Continent of Africa, and remain to this day a symbol of wealth and a form of currency.