REAL, FAKE, COPY, IMITATION...one person's view
A bead is a bead is a bead. A Kiffa bead is a Kiffa bead,…….until,…..except,……,or unless……one wants to delve a little deeper into identifying or separating originals from imitations. What makes a bead an original is a discussion in itself. Since it is commonly assumed that the original Kiffa beads are wet powder glass copies of other bead types, namely Islamic and Venetian varieties, we must now consider the original Kiffa bead an original bead type based on manufacturing, manufacturers and manufacturing centers, cultural significance, as well as the assumed “traditional” uses and users of the beads themselves should also play a considerable role in the determination of ‘traditional’.
Manufacturing techniques would include but is not limited to: the processes, glass types, design types and execution.
Modern Kiffa beads, (Modern Maure Wet Powder Glass Beads, Modern Murakads), are not discovered in situ. They are considered out of context when discussing ‘traditional’ Kiffa beads and do not provide an accurate picture of the associated culture. The provenience is easy to establish for the modern imitations as they are commonly found in a resale setting, i.e. West African Traders and bead shops. Modern Kiffa beads are made for a market that exists solely thanks to the Bead Collecting success of the traditional Kiffa Beads. ‘Traditional’ Kiffa beads have been glamorized by many as being one of the most beautiful beads in the world, it is no wonder there is a market for them. As the traditional Beads disappeared from the markets their demand grew at a pace that could not keep up with the supply, enter Today’s versions, a marketing attempt to fill the void created. These beads mimic their predecessors by attempting to look similar, they are even made using a similar wet powder glass technique and they are made in that part of the world where they are expected to be found. They have never been reported to be used in any cultural significant fashion or manner even remotely similar to the ‘traditional’ Kiffa beads. They exist strictly to feed a western collector market. There are now already several generations of the ‘modern’ Kiffa beads available and in their own right have and will establish a following among collectors, this should be encouraged as they can also be historically significant in their own right but one should always remember they are not Authentic Kiffa beads. (If Kiffa beads were coins, one could say that the older ‘traditional’ variety has a NUMISMATIC and a BULLION value, while the modern imitations have strictly a BULLION value!) there is always the potential of a BULLION type to become a collector piece but it would not be in the same genre!
LEGAL NOTICE
All intellectual properties © 2007 Thomas Stricker (TASART), unless otherwise noted.
