Malian Strand of Beads

Dusky brown and olive beads, with a flicker of teal near the top.

This strand of beads is from Mali, West Africa. It is excavated glass. Glass beads recovered from the ground are often centuries old, their surfaces worn or iridescent from long burial. Small, uneven beads in earthy brown, khaki and cream make up most of the strand. A few turquoise-green beads show on the right, with a dark clump of larger beads just below. The surfaces are matte and rubbed.

A palette borrowed from a pond bed.