African Beads: Jewels of a Continent - Hardcover

Evelyn Simak; Carl Dreibelbis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0981626726 ISBN 13: 9780981626727

Publisher: Africa Direct, 2010

Synopsis

Although much attention has been focused on European glass beads imported into Africa, little information is available on beads made by the African peoples themselves. African Beads: Jewels of a Continent fills that void.

- Lois Sherr Dubin, author of The History of Beads

African Beads: Jewels of a Continent is the first book ever published to deal exclusively with African-made beads. In detailed chapters organized by material (bone and shell, wood and amber, stone, metal, glass) authors Evelyn Simak and Carl Dreibelbis trace the historical journey of bead making in Africa. Prefaced with an essay by Lois Sherr Dubin and accompanied by 163 color photographs, this magnificent book is a showcase for some of the rarest, most beautiful and most collectible beads in the world.

About this title

About the Author:

Evelyn Simak is a freelance photographer from Norfolk, England, and the editor of bead-database.org, a global community dedicated to maintaining a free online reference source for bead lovers. Much of her free time is devoted to research, with indigenous African beads being one of her favorite areas of study. Her articles can be found on the Bead Database website and Wikipedia, and she has been published in Ornament Magazine and the Bead Society of Great Britain newsletters.

Carl Dreibelbis has been a collector of African beads since the early 1970s, and in that time he has assembled one of the premiere collections of rare African Bodom and Akoso beads. He has posted hundreds of entries on the Bead Collectors Network, an online bead forum. After thirty years in the corporate world, Carl now dedicates himself full-time to the world of collectible beads.

Lois Sherr Dubin is one of the most recognized and respected authorities on beads in the world. Since its publication in 1987, her first book, The History of Beads, has become the standard text on the subject for casual readers and experts alike. She lives in New York City and continues to research, lecture and write on a variety of topics related to beads and their history.

Review:

African Beads: Jewels of a Continent is a magnificent showcase of African beads. The beads are presented as if they were in front of the very eyes of the reader and could be reached out and touched. The book entices and one cannot help reading until the last page. The quality of the paper and the colorful beads urge the reader to complete and never leave the book.

African Beads is a comprehensive work on beads made in Africa. The book gives due credit to African craftsmen and women and promotes the economic value of the bead artifact. In the final analysis this book has preserved and documented African beads in a way that most Africanist historians have wished to see.

The authors collection of beads from all different regions of the Continent shows how much effort has been put into the preparation of the book. As the result of this, we see excellent assemblages and photographs of beads that have been surface collected, dug up from archaeological sites or attained through trade. All photographs are provided with captions. Many photographs are in full-page view. The book ignites the fire of embarking on either bead collection or bead trade. It assures the reader that bead entrepreneurship by sales or through tourist attractions could hence generate an income (Refer to photo of Mursi people, Omo Valley, Southern Ethiopia in Foreword .)

African Beads is mainly descriptive due to its wide coverage i.e., the Continent Africa and is less analytical, though not without sophistication. The monograph, African Beads: Jewels of a Continent, has a special style and approach that sets a new standard to be followed by professionals and amateurs in bead writing and collection. Although, the price makes the book unaffordable for many Africans, it is recommended for purchase by African academic and public libraries.

Dwelling more on the legends of beads, which Africa is rich for, and including an African as either as co-author or editor or even additional author would have added more value to the book.

The book has categorically refuted the understanding that African beads are less attractive and interesting. Furthermore, the book has become so indispensable that to have a comprehensive knowledge of African beads, the book is a must. --Hansemo Hamela, M.A., Ethiopian Bead Society

As the first book to focus exclusively on African-made beads, African Beads: Jewels of a Continent is an essential addition to the bead enthusiasts library. It would be hard to imagine a bead collector without ANY African-made beads in their collection. (Although I remember, in my beginning bead days, being surprised that African Trade Beads were NOT made in Africa (my assumption), but had been traded into Africa from Europe and Asia.)

One of the most important contributions of African Beads: Jewels of a Continent, with the Introduction by Lois Sherr Dubin, is that it spurs the reader to learn more. Fortunately the bibliography provides an excellent starting point for further study.

As Mr. Hamela points out, the book highlights the value and traditions of African craftsmen and women and African artists. In terms of scholarship, the knowledge of African beads is advancing. And much research has been added since the publication of Africa Adorned (one of the key references for Ethiopian content).

On a personal note, African Beads: Jewels of a Continent has contributed to my goal to learn about/make beads and jewelry from as many different materials as possible. Hence possibly my favorite beads are the termite mound beads, p. 77. (Is this possible to have a favorite?)

If one knew everything about beads, one would know everything about everything! About every material, every culture, every historical period. Therefore, as this is an impossible task, putting everything about African-made beads in one book would be impossible. However, African Beads: Jewels of a Continent gives us the motivation and courage to continue our quest for bead knowledge. --Deborah Zinn, Ethiopian Bead Society, Global Interactive Bead Database

About this edition

• Publisher: Africa Direct
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0981626726
• ISBN 13: 9780981626727
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216
• Editor: Jacob Liechty
• Illustrator: Mark Donato