Exploring Traditional Glass Bead Making Techniques in Jewellery

Abstract

Exploring traditional glass bead making techniques in jewellery in some prominent areas in Ghana is a means to exposing the area for metal and ceramic artists and other related fields of discipline such as aesthetics and criticism to complement their form of art for a better livelihood and diversification in jewellery. There are several methods for producing glass beads in other countries. Emphasis is placed on traditional technique in some areas in Ghana as well as the processes involved which are mostly identified by the indigenous or traditional glass bead makers. Materials for glass bead making are very cheap and readily available as compared to other materials for bead making such as metal, stone and others. One needs not become an artist before engaging in glass bead making, because the techniques or skills involved are not complex and can be learnt easily. Glass bead making techniques and their mass production will help the individual and the nation to earn foreign exchange from the export market. This publication, therefore, seeks to demonstrate and expose the traditional techniques of glass bead making to artists in Ghana and other parts of the world. It is also a means to solving the problem of export diversification from traditional exports such as gold, timber and cocoa to compete with other products on the world market. This will as well complement other forms of local jewellery for export in Ghana. Experimental and Descriptive research methods were used. Critical observation of the materials, tools, equipment and the technique were paramount in this research. Interviews were also conducted to authenticate the facts gathered. It is recommended that artists, institutions and the small scale industries attach much importance to the production of glass beads for livelihood and export by improving on the techniques of production. Holland (1999) also opines that jewellery is a

The Elemental Analysis of Glass Beads

“…Alok Kanungo has pursued a similar ethnographic approach in India more recently, documenting traditional glass bead making (Kanungo 2001(Kanungo , 2022 and providing important clues for the identification of traces of ancient glass bead workshops in the archaeological record. Literature about West African traditional bead making explores a wide range of traditional craft practices, from the production of glass to be used to make ornaments by the Nupe in Central Nigeria (Nadel and Seligman 1940;Lababidi et al, forthcoming) to the realization of powder beads in Western Africa (e.g., Agyei et al 2012;Francis 1993;Mauny 1949).…”

Utilising knowledge management methods to manage beads-making indigenous knowledge among the Krobo communities in Ghana

“…Hence, this study was conducted to determine how KM methods were applied to manage and preserve the beads production industry in Ghana in the same systematic manner as external knowledge. This is imperative because beads constitute a dense concentration of ancestral wisdom that has to be preserved and passed on to the next generations (Adu-Agyem 2007;Agyei, Adu-Agyem & Steiner 2012;Gyan-Apenteng 2014), including its potential to create employment and sustainable development.…”

Kuru Dolgu (Dry-Core) Cam Tozu Yöntemi ile Üretilen Geleneksel Afrika Cam Boncukları

“…Eğer yüzey tam olarak kapanmadıysa bu eylem birkaç kere tekrarlanır. Kalıplar kuruduktan sonra monyak yaprağı sapları eşit boyda kesilir ve ip geçirilecek boşluğu yaratmak için kalıptaki büyük oyukların içindeki alçak oyuklara yerleştirilir(Görsel 5),(Agye, Adu-Agyem and Steiner, 2013). Görsel 5.…”

“…Daha kolay şekil verilebilmesi için toz halindeki kile biraz su eklenir. Kil, yumrular halinde ayrılır ve içinde hava boşlukları kalmaması için iyice yoğrulur.Sonra bu yumrular birleştirilir ve tekrar yoğrulur(Agye, Adu-Agyem and Steiner, 2013). Kil kullanıma hazır hale geldikten sonra, üretilecek olan cam boncukların boyutlarına göre spatula ya da herhangi bir kesme aleti yardımıyla standart kalınlıkta düz levhalar halinde kesilir.…”

“…Sonucunda da oluşan çatlaklar tasarımın bozulmasına yol açacaktır. Ayrıca doldurulan kalıpların kırılmaması için de dikkatli bir şekilde tuğla yığma yöntemiyle üst üste gelecek şekilde yerleştirilerek muhafaza edilir(Agye, Adu-Agyem and Steiner, 2013).…”