6 Black Floral Lewis And Clark Venetian Trade Beads

"Lewis and Clark" beads were produced in the famous glass-making workshops of Murano between 1800 and 1920. Murano, an island off the coast of Venice, had been a world-renowned center for glass-making since the end of the 13th century when Venetian leaders relocated the city-state's glass foundries to the comparative safety of the island. The Murano glass industry grew quickly and flourished. Trade secrets were fiercely protected, and bead-makers based on the island were required by law to stay there for the course of their lifetimes. The dazzling array of glass beads produced on Murano was exported to destinations across the world most notably in the baggage of Dutch and German traders, who carried Murano beads to Africa and the Americas.

One style of black glass bead with trailed decorations became particularly popular in North America and was associated with the great transcontinental incursions of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark at the beginning of the 19th century. The Lewis and Clark expedition carried with it a stock of beads for the purpose of smoothing its passage through territories hostile to outsiders. There is no record of whether the beads that now carry their name were in fact a part of Lewis and Clark's cargo. Either way, the beads that the explorers offered did not have the desired effect, as the native peoples were interested primarily in plain blue beads. "Lewis and Clark" beads were much more successful when traded into West Africa, and it is from that region that the beads listed here have come to us.

With special thanks to Graham Romanes, from whose writing the above information is primarily drawn.

The term "Trade Beads" typically applies to beads made predominantly in Venice and Bohemia and other European countries from the late 1400s through to the early 1900s and traded in Africa and the Americas. Many of these beads have been attributed to being made in Germany, France and the Netherlands as well.

The heyday of this "trade" period was from the mid 1800s through the early 1900s when millions of these beads were produced and traded in Africa. The Venetians dominated this market and produced the majority of the beads sold during this time. The J.F. Sick and Co, based in Germany and Holland was one of the largest bead brokers/importers during this period. Moses Lewin Levin was a bead importer/exporter who operated out of London from 1830 to 1913. 

The popularity of these beads was revived in the late 1960s when they began to be exported from Africa into the United States and Europe. The term "Trade Beads" became very popular during this time period and is still used for the same bead reference today. The millefiori beads were also called "Love Beads" and used in necklaces with peace symbols during the Hippie days.

As the popularity and availability of these old beads grew they started getting "named". We started hearing terms like "Russian Blues", "Dutch Donuts", "King Beads". Although some of these folklore names are totally meaningless...ie...."Lewis and Clarke" beads, they do describe a specific type of bead.

And today these beads are more popular and collectible than ever. Thousands of these beads are in private collections around the world. The African Traders are having to go deeper and deeper into Africa to find more of these beads and many styles which were readily available just 5 years ago are no longer seen today.

There are exceptional museum collections of trade beads at the Museum of Mankind in London, the Pitt River Museum in Oxford, the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Belgium, the Murano Museum of Glass in Italy, the Tropical Royal Institute of Amsterdam, the Bead Museum in Arizona, US and the Picard Trade Bead Museum in California, US to name a few.

One of the most intriguing aspects of these beads is how they have survived a hundred or more years of wear and travel through at least three continents. Another mystery is who wore them before us and who will have them next.......after us.