Have been sorting through my piles of "Russian" beads, and have found a few that look very much like those on the old M. Levin cards in British museums. Checking the Picards' book, these would be the beads shown on
Page 2, Bead 22: 10-sided with a total of 50 facets; translucent cobalt; simple tubing; appears in smaller size on the sample card form the Levin Collection marked "traded for slaves."
The Levin Collection in the Museum of Mankind in London [1970-97, department now moved back into the British Museum] consists of sample cards for use in the West African trade. This collection is attributed to the years 1851-1863 by Karlis Karlins. The cards show beads that were traded for specific commodities: gold, slaves, palm oil and ivory. It should be noted that all of the "Russians" and faceted beads in this part of the Levin Collection appear only on the "traded for slaves" card.
Dates of interest with regard to the British abolition of the slave trade range from 1807 to 1873, and though abolished in 1833 it apparently continued right up to a few years before the American Civil War. Wikipedia recounts:
It is believed that after 1833 clandestine slave-trading continued within the British Empire; in 1854 Nathaniel Isaacs, owner of the island of Matakong off the coast of Sierra Leone was accused of slave-trading by the governor of Sierra Leone, Sir Arthur Kennedy. Papers relating to the charges were lost when the Forerunner was wrecked off Madeira in October 1854. In the absence of the papers, the English courts refused to proceed with the prosecution.
So the dates Karlis suggests seem within the ballpark, not that I am questioning the opinion of someone with vastly more knowledge and experience on the subject than myself - more like noting that, despite British abolition of slavery in 1833, the commercial practice continued, and the statements on the Levin cards might be sadly accurate.
The cylindrical beads resemble large beads traded into the Pacific Northwest during the 19th century, in size and number of sides (7). PNW beads seem to be slightly less of an inky cobalt blue than the African trade beads. Past comparisons of these beads are featured in several BCN forums, a search will reveal them. My pic shows a PNW strand from Albert Summerfield in the middle (with the blue cord), which I've always assumed to be from the Columbia River area.
Those who own a copy of Dubin's The History of Beads can view color photos of the actual sample cards, or see them online at ezakwantu.com
The beads in my pictures measure 32x13mm for the bicones, about 13x13 for the cylinders.
Comments, anyone?
