Comanche peyote fan (circa 1890)Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
This stunning Comanche prayer fan is made of crested caracara tail and hyacinth macaw feathers, and features a beaded handle. It was made in the late 1800s for adherents of The Peyote Way, also known as the Native American Church, and used during prayer sessions.
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From the Northwest Coast, across the Plains and down into Mesoamerica, Native Americans and First Peoples created complex, beautiful beadwork. The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian on Washington D.C.'s National Mall, holds some of the finest surviving works.
Kuosi Society Elephant Mask (20th century) by UnknownBrooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum
This elephant mask was made by members of the Cameroonian Kuosi Society, a warrior class of royal attendants. In Cameroon, elephants are associated with political power, and the beads would have been imported at great cost, so this mask marks a very prestigious individual.
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This mask was made some time during the 20th Century, it was later purchased and brought to the Brooklyn Museum, where it forms part of the Arts of Africa collection alongside the Beaded Crown of Onijagbo Obasoro Alowolodu.
Rosary Rosary (ca. 1500–1525)The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum
This rosary was made in Germany, in the early years of the 1500s. Each of the ivory beads depicts a portrait of a wealthy person on one side, and a skeleton on the other, with the end beads depicting half-decayed skulls. A reminder of the fleeting nature of life.
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This rosary is held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. As one of the most prestigious museums in the entire nation, the Met holds an enormous collection of fine and decorative arts, including historic beadwork from various cultures.
NecklaceNational Museums of Kenya
The Nairobi National Museum
This huge, multicoloured necklace comes from Kenya, where it is traditionally worn by Maasai women. The Maasai are a pastoral culture, following their herds of cattle across the fertile plains of central eastern Africa. Beadwork is a particularly important art in their culture.
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In Massai culture, beadwork is made by women, who pass the art down to their daughters and nieces. The Nairobi National Museum, in Kenya's capital city, holds many examples collected from across the nation.
Glass beadsHubei Provincial Museum
The Hubei Provincial Museum
These glass beads, at the Hubei Provincial Museum in China, show the remarkable skills that jewellers had mastered by 500BCE. These are just a few of the 173 beads were unearthed from the Zeng Hou Yi Mausoleum. They may represent dragonfly eyes, thought to ward off bad luck.
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The Hubei Provincial Museum is one of the largest in China. It holds over 200,000 cultural relics, ranging from ancient jade and bronze vessels, to musical instruments and ceramics, providing insight into thousands of years of Chinese history.
