Repaired Rare Kiffa Bead Italy 5mm diameter with 3mm hole

5mm diameter with 3mm hole

unknown origin

From the Ao tribe of the Nagaland state of India

These are teardrop pendant shapes

Repaired Rare Kiffa Bead Italy 5mm diameter with 3mm holeThis very cool and magical bead was made in Kiffa, Mauritania. It is very old and was made as a female fertility charm, mainly by women artists. Historically, Kiffa beads are very important as its ancient technique (dating to 1000 years ago) made it one of the oldest glass bead making processes in Africa, which was purely African in origin. This bead is around 200 years old, possibly older, and it has been enhanced sometime in the early 1900s (the