Bead
19th century (made)
| Artist/Maker |
The trade in amber may have begun as early as the New Stone Age and it was one of the first items of long distance trade. Its unique properties and light weight made transporting it from places where it was plentiful, such as the Baltic Sea area, to places where it was not, such as the Mediterranean and North Africa, worthwhile.
This amber bead was given to the Museum in 1904 by Moses Lewin Levin, a London bead merchant who ran an import-export business between 1839 and 1913. He sold a wide variety of beads, mainly from Venice but also Bohemia and Germany, to be used in trade in Africa. This bead was intended for use in trading in Morocco.
This amber bead was given to the Museum in 1904 by Moses Lewin Levin, a London bead merchant who ran an import-export business between 1839 and 1913. He sold a wide variety of beads, mainly from Venice but also Bohemia and Germany, to be used in trade in Africa. This bead was intended for use in trading in Morocco.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Amber |
| Brief description | Single amber bead made for European trade in Africa (probably Morocco) |
| Physical description | Single clear amber bead, spherical |
| Dimensions |
|
| Object history | The donor of this bead was Moses Lewin Levin, a London bead merchant whose import-export business operated from 1839 to 1913. Most of the beads he dealt in appear to be Venetian although in 1898 the Levin Company was listed as an importer of Venetian, Bohemian and German beads. The British Museum has an important collection of glass trade beads (including some on sample cards) acquired in 1865 from Lewin Levin. (See – The History of Beads, from 30,000 BC to the Present, Lois Sherr Dubin, London: Thames & Hudson, 1987, p10.) |
| Historical context | The accessions register notes that the bead was 'made for the Morocco trade'. |
| Summary | The trade in amber may have begun as early as the New Stone Age and it was one of the first items of long distance trade. Its unique properties and light weight made transporting it from places where it was plentiful, such as the Baltic Sea area, to places where it was not, such as the Mediterranean and North Africa, worthwhile. This amber bead was given to the Museum in 1904 by Moses Lewin Levin, a London bead merchant who ran an import-export business between 1839 and 1913. He sold a wide variety of beads, mainly from Venice but also Bohemia and Germany, to be used in trade in Africa. This bead was intended for use in trading in Morocco. |
| Associated object | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1042A-1904 |
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| Record created | August 10, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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