Yoruba Strand of Beads, Nigeria

Long tapering red tubes in a tidy U, with a twisted cord at the top.

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. Smooth, elongated tube beads in warm orange-red with soft mottling and small surface nicks. They run slightly larger toward the base. A striped twisted cord joins the ends at the top.

Tall, slim and dressed in a lively red.