Antique White Agate Trade Bead Pendant from Cambay India – 47×17 mm

Antique White Agate Trade Bead Pendant (Cambay, India) – 47×17 mm

This magnificent Agate trade bead originates from Cambay (Khambhat), India, and features a striking large white agate pendant rich with history. Used in African trade in the 1800s or earlier, this bead is in very good antique condition with minor wear and light age-related damage.

• Size: 47 mm × 17 mm
• Perforation diameter: approx. 1–1.5 mm

The bead’s striking elongated form and creamy-white agate make it ideal for collectors, ethnographic displays, or high‑end jewellery designs. Its subtle patina and minor wear give it authentic character and provenance.

About Cambay Antique Agate Beads

Antique Agate Beads made in Cambay (modern Khambhat, Gujarat) have been crafted using the same traditional techniques since the Harappan era (3rd millennium BC). Local artisans acquire agate from regional deposits and hand‑drill and shape each bead by chipping, grinding, and diamond‑tip drilling, a technology rooted in ancient India and still practiced today.

These Antique Agate beads were esteemed in West and East African trade routes as early as the first millennium AD and were particularly valued as durable, semi‑precious tokens of exchange in Ghana and beyond. In Ghana and other parts of West Africa, such beads served as symbols of wealth and status and were exchanged for goods including gold, ivory, and even enslaved peoples during the trade bead era.

The art of Cambay bead‑drilling, using double or single diamond‑tipped drills to create centered perforations measuring roughly 1 mm, was crucial in ensuring beads strung easily and lasted generations without damaging the cord.

Significance of Agate Trade Beads in Ghana & Africa

In regions such as Ghana, Agate trade beads (also called "slave beads" or "aggry") held deep cultural and economic value. They became powerful symbols of wealth, tradition, and social identity. Even today, such beads are collected, curated, and revered by bead connoisseurs and historians alike.

Each bead purchased supports TribalGH’s continued dedication to authenticity and the preservation of bead‑making traditions.

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