Yoruba Strand of Beads, Nigeria

Plump orange-red beads graduating from small to large, finished with a dark cord.

This strand of beads is Yoruba, from Nigeria, West Africa. It is glass. Handmade glass beads are seldom identical, and a strand catches the light a little differently in every bead. Rounded, slightly lumpy beads in a rusty vermilion with a matte, weathered surface. They grow gradually bigger toward the centre, where they are smooth and barrel-shaped. Elongated tubes sit at each end beside a brown cord.

A confident red, with edges softened by wear.