Reddish Orange Copal 19th Century African Trade Bead Necklace features an early 19th Century French-made steel shoe buckle with four uniquely shaped steel riveted nail heads creating a floral design as its focal point. The vivid reddish orange copal beads from Mali measure in the range of 10 millimeters to 12 mm in size and the necklace contains 70 seventy near round beads. A vintage sterling silver, 975 stamped, two strand clasp embellished with the profile of a helmet wearing soldier intaglio completes the design.
To keep the integrity of the antique shoe buckle in original condition, I used a Native American bead working stitch called the Edging stitch on black leather to provide a sturdy structural base for the necklace. The 10/0 size Japanese Delica Miyuki seed glass beads are a metallic hematite in color.
The necklace is 18 inches long at the first strand with the second strand closely draping below it. The dimension of the shoe buckle focal point is 2 inches across by 1.5 inches long by 6 millimeters thick.
The necklace is a comfortable weight and presents you with a smooth sensation around your neck from the very old copal beads and the velvet lined focal point back.
