Chevron Trade Beads
Strand of approximately 1 inch long, 6 layer red, white and blue antique Chevron Trade Beads made of glass canes by the Murano, Venetian or Bohemian Glass Industry in the 16th century.
About 20 years ago our friend, Scott Jensen, called us up and said, “Hey, come on, there’s a NW Mountainman Rondezvous out at Jarman’s Prairie!” So we all drove out there, winding thru the hills and areas of Skagit County that I really didn’t even know existed. This beautiful private place of great history of pioneer Blanket Bill Jarman is very appropriate for a Mountainman Rendezvous. A comfortable amount of people attending in full backwoods regalia were pacing off the black powder shooting course and setting up their camps and shops. We had a lot of fun wandering around. Owen, of course, was very interested in the gun aspect of it all since he collects black powder rifles, and I zoomed in on the beads. There was a woman there who collected and sold trade beads for costuming. Ah hah! The light went on! There’s more to these guy-gun shows than guns and looking at the handsome men!
Collection of blue and green chevron trade beads made of clusters of glass canes by the Murano, Venetian or Bohemian glass industry in the 16th century.
One of my best trade bead “scores” was made at the Cascade Mountainmen’s Annual Muzzle Loading Arms and Pioneer Craft Show in Monroe, WA. I spotted a couple of young men with a table of odds and ends for sale; walking sticks, badges, old steel knives, old postcards, old spurs and harnesses, some old costume jewelry and one strand of big dirty old striped beads. I knew immediately what they were despite the dirt! And they were so cheap!! I bought them and crowed all the way home…CHEVRONS. It was quite a job to clean them up too.
I’ve since found chevrons in other colors, but none at such a great “score”.
The Chevron, also called the Rosetta bead is made by the arrangement of three or more colors in usually six layers. Stringers or colored canes are spaced between each other in the round so that viewing from the end of the bead forms a star or flower-like shape. These beads I found were rich dark blue, opaque brick red and opaque white. Chevron beads were made at Murano, Italy from the early part of the 16th century. These that I bought are very old! The famous 1971 Arizona Highways Magazine Bead edition tell us that the Chevron was used in North Africa as a weight on the ends of camel saddle blankets and it’s possible that these beads found their way into the Southwest American continent by way of Beale’s camel corps from 1857 to 1861. I’ve seen pictures of their use on horse tack and costumes.
Grandmother Eagle cast Sterling Pendant with Abalone inlay strung with Chevrons, blue Russians, and Hudson's Bay White Heart trade beads with hand-carved Sterling feathers.
The gorgeous huge old Chevrons just ached to be made into something special and powerful so I made a Legend Necklace called Grandmother Eagle with them. I carved the wax for the Eagle Pendant and Owen cast it in Sterling and inlaid Abalone shell. I designed the Sterling feathers and Owen cut them out and engraved the “feathering” on them. Earrings too.
I know this a old thread I hope you didnt pay alot for those chevrons above, those chevrons are the east india made ones and do not look anything like real venetians, colors are wrong, shape is wrong and the layers dont look right especially the red layer which is a orange color and is supposed to be either a deep dark red or deep brownish red, the 12 pointed star isnt very defined either look up luigi cattlen of murano him and his family have been making star/rosetta trade beads for 200 plus years, you have to be careful about trade beads, however for us venetian star bead collectors we can spot east india made ones a mile away as well as some of the chinese made ones. I live in Everett WA so I know all those places you went to Baker bay Beads has alot of originals at the Mtn. man show.
Hi Brian, So awesome to have a fellow Trade Bead enthusiast comment on my post! This info from Wikipedia is interesting and I’m sure you must know it, but some others don’t; “Venetian chevron beads are drawn beads, made from glass canes which are created in specifically constructed star moulds. The first chevron beads were made towards the end of the 15th century, consisting of 7 layers of alternating colours. They usually have 6 facets. Unlike their later counterparts they were not always made with the standard 12-point star mould. By the beginning of the 20th century, 4 and 6-layer chevron beads appear on various sample cards. According to records kept at the Societa Veneziana Conterie of Murano, they stopped making chevron canes during the 1950s. Chevron beads are still being made in Venice today, albeit in very small quantities only. Venetian chevron beads have been traded throughout the world, most heavily in West Africa, where they were first introduced by Dutch merchants in the late 15th century.”
Glassmakers were forbidden to emigrate from Venice on pain of sequestration of all their goods including families! Nevertheless, it is known that in the 16th century several glassmakers did succeed in setting up factories in Northern Europe, specifically Amesterdam where they also flourished. A paper by Jan Baart, “Glass Bead sites in Amsterdam” literally excited me because he has actual reports from Archaeology digs that confirm the manufacture of Chevrons as early as 1621! It’s a very interesting report on little known information.
Thank you so much for mentioning Luigi Cattelan, one of the best known contemporary Chevron bead makers. He certainly has the experience, talent and history behind him and he’s definitely a master glass artist! We’re really blessed up here in Whatcom County to have Brian Kerkvliet another master glass artist. Looking forward to more comments from you!
Thanks for the Info. Jan I have a few books on African trade beads as well as south middle america literature, and yes I do know Brian Kerkvliet’s work, very Awsome!
Hi!
I just read the last comment and it made me wonder about buying trade beads. I am not experienced in trade bead buying but I love to look for them where ever I can/when I recognize them. I was wondering;
When you buy trade beads is it common to get provenance from the seller? Should I as an inexperienced buyer only buy with provenance?
Love your posts!
Hello Olea, Thanks for your question! A lot of people have your same concern especially because Trade Beads are more expensive than most glass beads on the regular market. And believe you me trade beads can be very expensive because of their beauty and specifically history! It’s like buying an antique. One always has to do their research. Some antiques come with provenance and some don’t. I recommend that you choose one style of bead that you really like, say like Chevrons, and do all the research you can. Then check the beads for wear and tear (they are glass!). Of course, reputable sellers are a good place to start. Brian, in the post above, and I both mentioned Baker Bay Beads. I’ve never been ripped off by them! As far as written provenance…that’s rare, but can be possible sometimes. Usually those beads with provenance are carefully family or museum owned.
I’ve been researching, finding, buying and using trade beads for 36 yrs!!!!!!! And I’ve had the privilege of helping people confirm the value and authenticity of their trade bead finds and it’s really a lot of fun! There are a lot of new India and Chinese made trade bead types of beads these days and artificially aged to fool the buyer and charge high prices for cheap glass beads. Buyer beware is the truth! Give me a shout if you need to, I’d love it!
I would highly suggest research research research!! there are a lot of signs you can look out for when buying trade beads and where they MIGHT be from, I mainly collect just Muranese Chevrons/rosettas, google African venetian trade beads Images or just
or talk to reputable trade bead collectors Bud at Baker bay beads has been dealing with trade beads for a very long time I dont either know of anybody that gives written provenances but bud was the guy who taught me and what to look for. Vintage or Antique Chevrons do have 3 to 4 different shades of red in the red layer and there are many different looks to the bead but they all fundementally kind of have that same look and feel as well as color correspondance and character, now I dont have all the answers but there is in my opinion no such thing as fake chevrons/beads unless somebody is trying purposely to describe them falsley as Antique or passing them of as a fake antique or there plastic, the Chinese make beautiful chevrons and India has there own look as above, as well as Burma and now phillapines it all depends on what you like and what you fancy as far as look and of coarse $$$$ money. Have fun with it and study up! its a hobby.
Brian, I agree with you that there is no such thing as fake chevrons unless someone doesn’t know what they’re looking at. They are difficult to make, even the simplest of designs is a work of art no matter where they come from. Some of the earliest striped beads from Southeast Asia, China, the middle east and India are very, very valuable because of their age and beauty. Plus there are many different names for the same style bead…more on that another time!
Janet, There is going to be a bead show second weekend of October at the Lynnwood commerce center, did you hear about that?, I am going cause I live in Everett I am going to wear one of my muranese rosetta bead necklaces (Chevrons). May be we will see you there?
Thanks for the heads up, Brian. Do you know who’s putting it on? Can you give me any more info?
I dont know, something bead society, at the Lynnwood commerce center that is all I know, sorry for the long reply.