CHEROKEE-SUMERLIN TRADE BEADS "THE BEST IN THE WEST"

Let's establish one thing right up front. The so called "Russian blue" and "Russian Faceted" are nicknames. The Bohemian bead makers made these faceted beads. They grinders made 6-faceted beads, 7-faceted beads and even 10-faceted beads. The seven facted bead was made at least from the early 1700's to the early 1800's. Sometime during the early 1800's the Bohemians switched to making faceted beads with an inner core. This lasted up to 1850. The last of the faceted beads were made about that time. The coastal Indian Peoples from Alaska to the Oregon coast called this bead "Chief" bead. Peter Francis, Jr., in his book "Beads of The World" identifies the blue padre type bead as the "Chief" bead of the Northwest. The coastal Indians of yesteryear and today still call the blue faceted bead "Chief" bead. The lighter blue bead is called "Slave Bead." It was used by the people to buy slaves. The cobalt blue, 7-faceted bead, with no inner core, is still a much coveted bead by the coastal Indian Peoples. Trade with this bead is going on today, but mostly, they want the bead for ceremonial items. John's little sister, honorary, is of the Makah peoples on the Olympic Penninsula. They and other tribal peoples we met along the Washington coast do not recognize the blue padre type bead. I have a blue bead from the Fenstermaker collection. The tag, in Fenstermakers handwriting says "Chief" bead, Washington (state.) Our beads are furnished with a Statement of Provance, a Warranty Statement of Authentication, and a Statement of Authentication.

The Venetian black ambasador bead is probably one of the very best beads, as well as one of the most beautiful beads made by Venetian bead makers during the last half of the 19Th century. The black ambassador was made in oval form as well as the long bicone form. It was made in the color black, which is the one we see the most of. It was also made in the color blue, which we see the least of. The blue beads were not made in the same numbers as the black bead. Unfortunately, the best of the blue beads that were/are available were damaged. Finding a clean blue ambassador or similar blue floral in perfect condition is a chore. The best are in the hands of collectors and can be viewed in museums. Over the years we have collected many Venetian black amabassadors. We still have several of both forms in our person collection. One thing we notice today is the quality of the beads is declining. That is probably due to the fact that most of the beads in Africa are now in America. What we see on eBay now is beads that have probably been excavated. One can pretty much tell by the looks of the bead if it has been under ground for some time. The long black and blue bicone ambassadors, because of their very shape, are easily chipped on the ends. Many of the long bicones in our own collection are chipped. These are the ones that we purchased on a strand. In order to get the good ones we are forced to take the bad ones too. Their is no negotian with the African bead runners on this. Still, we have managed to find and keep sone very nice beads. As bead collectors we had two motives from the beginning, one, to collect beads. And two, to buy beads as an investment in our future. We found that beads were a better investment than trading on Wall Street.

The original white heart trade bead is known as a Cornaline d' Aleppo or white heart bead. The first Cornaline d' Aleppo beads were green heart beads. The green heart bead was made by the millions beginning about 300 year back and more. The Venetians first attempt at making a white heart bead was in 1825. The bead produced was a pinkish white color. They were made in 1825 and continued to be made until 1850. In 1850 the Venetians found the right combination of ingreients for making the pure white heart trade bead. When we use the term 'white heart' we are talking about the inside layer of the trade bead. One will see red white hearts, green white hearts, blue white hearts, and more. Some, such as the bead with a yellow/orange colored outter layer and the inside white core are very unique and rare beads.