Beads have been used throughout the ages and in virtually every culture, not simply as adornment but to express social circumstances, political occurrences, and religious beliefs; as a form of currency; or as symbolic embodiments of curative powers. And they're colorful, made of various interesting materials, and can be combined in endless configurations. With more than 100 crisp color photos and intelligently written text that reaps the benefits of the author's 30 years of research,
The History of Beads documents bead styles and uses in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Far East. Ranging from prehistoric times to the 20th century, this book stops along the way to consider the magic eye bead, prayer beads, and beads with other special attributes. An eight-page color gatefold section offers a fascinating timeline of the bead's history at a glance. Bead devotees can satisfy their curiosity about their medium of choice and draw inspiration for their own creations from the beautiful photos of necklaces, collars, bags, headdresses, and other beaded ornaments.
--Amy Handy
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reader Reviews
This book comes in two versions: a concise version and a huge hardcover version. I own both, but find the unabridged version to be head and shoulders above the paperback "bead history lite" one. This huge tome is a labor of love, and is one of the best books available to learn why every culture devised by man has valued these little objects with holes in them. There are plenty of photos, and the book follows the parallel paths of humans and beads throughout history. It can be startling and amusing to discover that what we consider to be new and exciting has been done many times in the past by people in cultures everywhere. I personally found it facinating to discover that one of the first things that humans do when we discover a new material is to punch a hole in it and wear it as a bead. Intrinsically, beads are mostly worthless, but this book shows how they bind us all together and add to our knowledge of the people share our planet, both now and in the past. A must read for the serious bead artist.
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