#krobo

A Krobo woman of the eastern region of Ghana is adorned with Akori beads as part of the Dipo Ceremony, celebrating her transition into Womanhood. Captured by photographer, Nyani Quarmyne.

Krobo girl, Ghana, by Anthony Pappone

by  Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher

GA-DANGME ETHNIC GROUPS IN GHANA - BEST BEADS MAKERS Krobo bead making has been documented by european "academics" actively in the 1920s. Ghanaian powder glass bead making dates back to centuries of master craftsmanship. Bead making in Ghana was first documented by John Barbot in 1746. Beads still play important roles in Dangme society, in the Greater Accra region of Ghana, be it in rituals of birth, coming of age, marriage, or death. Akoso beads Older Ghanaian dry core powder glass beads, dating from the 1950s, are the Akoso beads, which were also manufactured by the Krobo. The most common colour of Akoso beads is yellow. There are also green, and rarely blue or black specimens. The glass surface is often worn away at the ends and around the beads' equator, exposing a grey core. The most prevalent decorations, preformed from strips of hot glass, were applied in patterns of criss-crossed loops, longitudinal stripes and circles. Glass from crushed Venetian beads was used for making the glass powder, and the decorative patterns were made of glass derived from Venetian beads, or from small whole Venetian beads such as so-called green heart and white-heart beads. Krobo bead (fused glass fragments) Krobo powder glass beads are made in vertical molds fashioned out of a special, locally dug clay. Most molds have a number of depressions, designed to hold one bead each, and each of these depressions, in turn, has a small central depression to hold the stem of a cassava leaf. The mold is filled with finely ground glass that can be built up in layers in order to form sequences and patterns of different shapes and colours. The technique could be described as being somewhat similar to creating a sand "painting" or to filling a bottle with different-coloured sands and is called the "vertical-mold dry powder glass technique". When cassava leaf stems are used, these will burn away during firing and leave the bead perforation. Certain powder glass bead variants, however, receive their perforations after firing, by piercing the still hot and pliable glass with a hand-made, pointed metal tool. Firing takes place in clay kilns until the glass fuses. There are three distinct styles of modern Krobo powder glass beads: Krobo "Writing" beads Fused glass fragment beads which are being made by fusing together fairly large bottle glass or glass bead fragments. These beads are translucent or semi-translucent and receive their perforations, as well as their final shapes, after firing. Beads composed of two halves (usually bicones, occasionally spheres) that are being created from pulverized glass. The two halves are being joined together in a second, short firing process. The "Mue ne Angma" or "Writing Beads", conventional powder glass beads made from finely ground glass, with glass slurry decorations that are being "written" on and fused in a second firing. Manye Desouza.

Mastered by @Zachpereyra 💿

Banc

I’ve always loved these rare extra-large Krobo Powder Glass Masterwork Beads from Ghana for their wonderfully watermelon-y hues. Claim this delicious treat of a necklace to make your summer ensembles extra fun! 🍉 #krobo #krobobeads #krobopowderglassbeads #masterworkbeads #krobotribe #ghana #powderglass #krobojewelry #fashion #style #watermelon #summerfashion #beads #shop #nyc #unionsquare #beadsofparadise (at Beads of Paradise NYC) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByJSBURBVgx/?igshid=ktgpfhz4u85d