Rare Tabular Chevron Beads – 12-Stripe Venetian Antique Pair

Rare Tabular Chevron Bead Pair – 4-Layer Venetian Glass with 12 Stripes

This is a beautiful and exceptionally rare matching pair of old 4-layer Venetian Chevron glass trade beads in the coveted tabular form, each featuring twelve set-in stripes: eight green, three brick red, and one blue. These beads are documented in Picard, Volume VII, p.61, strand 13, and are an extraordinary find for serious collectors and enthusiasts of African trade beads.

• Bead Sizes: 11 mm x 10 mm x 7 mm and 12 mm x 11 mm x 7 mm

• Condition: Excellent

These Antique Chevron beads-also known as Rosetta beads-showcase a highly detailed star-layered construction with precisely embedded colored stripes. The tabular shape and balanced pattern of twelve inlaid stripes make this pair visually striking and exceedingly rare. Crafted in Venice in the early 1900s, these beads were traded throughout West Africa, where they held cultural and economic significance.

History, Value, and Craftsmanship of Chevron Beads

Chevron beads have been crafted in Venice since the 15th century using a multi-step caneworking process. Colored glass layers were fused together, then drawn into rods, cut, and ground to reveal the iconic chevron or starburst patterns. The precision required to create tabular beads with such a detailed stripe arrangement speaks to the mastery of Murano glassmakers.

These beads played a major role in African trade networks during the 19th and early 20th centuries, where they were worn as symbols of status and exchanged as currency. Today, authentic antique Chevron beads with rare shapes, patterns, and stripe counts-such as this pair-are highly sought after by collectors and museum-quality curators alike.

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