Glass Bangles in South Asia: Production, Variability and Historicity

Trivedi, Mudit

doi:10.1007/978-981-16-3656-1_15

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As the craftspeople in Europe are not familiar with these techniques, written and video documentation from the latest bracelet producers was widely used to understand the processes and techniques used. Only a few groups of bangle makers still produce glass bracelets, or were still producing them in the past 40 years, in Palestine, India, Nepal, and Nigeria (Dang, 2010;Gaborieau, 1989;Kanungo, 2021;Korfmann, 1966;Nenna, 2000;Rolland, 2021, p.113;Trivedi, 2021). The comparison between the production of bracelets by the Masagá glassmakers and Celtic production was made by Théa Elisabeth Haevernick as early as the 1960s (Haevernick, 1960).…”

Section: Understanding the Masagá Skills Of Seamless Bracelet Making ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Making of Bikini Glass in Bida, Nigeria: Ethnography, Chemical Composition, and Archaeology

Lababidi¹,

Babalola

Gratuze

et al. 2022

Afr Archaeol Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper discusses the process, prospects, and challenges of making bikini glass in Bida (Nupeland), central Nigeria. The Masagá glassmakers of Bida provide the ideal case study for investigating the production of bikini. Nineteenth-century Arab and European writings have described glassmaking in Nupeland; however, with the exception of the study carried out by Peter Robertshaw and his colleagues in 2009, there is no work that identifies the raw materials and formula used to produce bikini glass. Our recent ethnographic work at Bida provided the opportunities to collect raw glass, beads, and unfused raw material for bikini glass as well as vitrified furnace wall fragments for analysis. We present results of binocular observation and chemical compositional analysis conducted on the raw materials, glass products, and furnace remains to understand the mineralogical and chemical characteristics of various materials connected with the production of bikini. From the manufacture of glass to that of glass ornaments, bracelets, and beads, the documentation of the work of Masagá glassmakers provides new data for the history of glass and its techniques. This information is relevant for understanding glassworking in the past. The paper also addresses issues relating to migration, technology transfer, and culture contact between Nupeland and its neighbors in the Lower Niger region. It argues that the investigation of the production of bikini glass in Bida is essential for expanding our knowledge of the archaeology of glassmaking and glassworking in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.

show abstract

Section: Understanding the Masagá Skills Of Seamless Bracelet Making ...mentioning

confidence: 99%