Elysian Energy gives S&A Beads a Lighting Makeover!
Thank you Elysian Energy for making S&A Beads more environmentally friendly!
"Our Commercial Department just finished up a project for S&A Beads in Takoma Park. Check out our blog post on how much they were able to save: S&A Beads will save 8,704 kWh each year, amounting to a CO2 emission reduction of 6.1 metric tons." Elysian Facebook page
Read how on their blog page.
News from the Tuareg Tribe
"Lots of bad news from Mali in Africa this year: civil war, terrorism, destruction of historic artifacts and on and on. The good news is the Tuareg people who wander the deserts of the Sahel on their camels are still making beautiful sterling silver jewelry. Some of the best Tuareg work has found its way to S & A Beads in Takoma Park. Come see for yourself."
- from store owner, Larry Silverman
Two Bead Exhibits at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, New York!
I had the great pleasure to visiting the Rubin Museum of Art this weekend in southern Manhattan. This beautiful space always has stunning exhibits, but the beads this time are amazing.
There is a fabulous exhibit of Naga artifacts, including numerous beads and textiles. There large black and white photos of the Naga taken in 1937 wearing traditional costume are marvelous (see the picture below). Best of all, the tags and descriptors are incredibly descriptive and informative, talking about both the materials, technique and cultural significance of each item. (A real improvement over so many generic museum descriptors, i.e., "one glass bead".) I really feel like I learned something about Naga culture.
As an added treat, there is the fabulous Prayer Bead display in the basement, with over 100 fabulous examples of Prayer Beads, which I know has been mentioned here before. The exhibits at the Rubin change on a regular basis, but these are two of my favorites and must for any beaders passing through NYC.
Amazing Trade Bead Reference Website
Dedicated collectors of African trade beads have often seen references to the legendary J.F. Sick & Company collection. J.F. Sick was one of the major wholesalers of European beads that ended up being traded in Africa. The company put together a comprehensive collection of "Sample Cards," which include an actual example of each bead that they sold.
For the first time, the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam has put the entire J.F. Sick collection online, including beautiful, full color, high resolution copies of each card. This site is a fabulous reference for all of us that love trade beads.
You can visit the Tropenmuseum's collection online at: http://www.tropenmuseum.com/smartsite.shtml?ch=TMU&id=82646. Just amazing!
Beaded House!
It's hard for me to imagine completing even the simplest Peyote stitch bracelet -- so imagine my shock at seeing this art installation from artist Liza Lou. 30 million beads!
http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/liza-lou-kitchen
Just amazing!
Cowrie Shells as Currency!
Just in from the New York Times Sunday Magazine -- a discussion of the history of currency! Cowrie Shells and Wampum feature prominently: http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/magazine/2013/innovations-issue/#/?part=currency
From the article:
Cowrie shells “have been used as money for at least as long, and in at least as many parts of the world, as coins have,” Catherine Eagleton, a curator at the British Museum, says. The thumbnail-size shells — Latin name: Cypraea moneta — were used in China as far back as the 16th century B.C., as well as in India and Africa. Cowries have a lot going for them as money: they’re uniform, they’re a convenient size, they’re hard to counterfeit. They were a relatively stable currency in Africa until the 19th century, when another cowrie shell, the Monetaria annulus, appeared in huge quantities, helping to trigger massive inflation that all but wiped out what remained of the shell economy.
Now the real question is whether the NY Times let me pay for my subscription next month in Cowrie Shells.....?
$100 Welcome to our New Site Raffle!
Welcome to S&A Beads' new electronic arm at Beadstore.com! In order to thank everyone for visiting us, we are raffling off a $100 gift certificate to a lucky customer on our mailing list as of August 15! You can join our mailing list by clicking here or signing up at this link: http://beadstore-com.myshopify.com/account/register.
It's just a little way to thank our customers. The gift certificate is redeemable either online or at our store in Takoma Park, Maryland (close in suburb of Washington, DC). Thanks again!