BEAD NAMES There has always been plenty of discussion and debate concerning the utility and meaning of bead names.  Some people think bead names are useful and that beads can be classified in terms of their names.  Others take the complete opposite approach, that bead names are, at best, useless curiosities.  Still others take a hybrid approach, that we are stuck with these names, so we might as well use them for what they are worth.  This paper examines some of the problems associated with bead names and searches desperately for any value or utility that may be derived from them for bead research purposes. First of all, it is important to separate “names” from “types”.  Thus, “chevron”, “millefiori”,  “lamp”, etc. are bead “types” because each such term encompasses great varieties of shapes, sizes, colors, decorations, and other parameters.  Bead “type” terminology is frequently highly useful to the bead researcher when noting methods of bead manufacture, notwithstanding further definitional problems as to which beads actually fit into these types.  Recent discussion concerning “chevron”, for example, would be a prime example of the unsettled definitional problems associated with common bead “type” terminology. Bead “names” are the terms applied to a single bead design or a restricted number of bead designs, such that any beads given a certain “name” will have virtually identical descriptive parameters, varying, perhaps, only one parameter, such as color or size.  Thus, bead “types” can include beads of many “names”, but individual bead “names” cannot refer to beads of more than one “type”.  Yet, gray-area designations arise.  For example, is “cornaline d’Aleppo” a bead “type” or a bead “name”?   Shown below is a table of common American bead “names” and “types” with their presumed methods of manufacture (Technique), Materials, and Origins (major Regions).  This list has been assembled from experience with beads among North American collectors, enthusiasts, and merchants and is, by no means, exhaustive or complete.  Interested parties are invited to add to this list and to make corrections and the list will be edited and expanded from time to time.  At present, the list contains several possible errors and unknowns, so feel free to attack!  Nothing here is etched in granite.  Perhaps this is the point of presenting this list, to engender the endless debates associated with colloquial bead terminology. 4 June 2001 revision:  Added “buckskinner” and “lamp”; revised some Techniques and Materials; corrected some Region errors.  Also added a new column to indicate “name” (N) or “type” (T).  For now, a bead “type” includes beads varying significantly in more than one major descriptive parameter:  shape, size, color, or decoration.  (Note:  This is highly subjective and arguments are expected.) N/T        Name or Type        Technique        Material        Region T        adiagba        cold molded        powder glass        Africa N        aggrey        drawn        glass        Middle East N        aja        drawn        glass        Europe N        akoso        cold molded        powder glass        Africa N        awale        drawn        glass        Europe N        barleycorn        wound        glass        Europe N        beaver                glass        Europe T        Bida        furnace wound        glass        Africa T        bodom        cold molded        powder glass        Africa N        bow tie        wound        glass        Europe N        buckskinner        drawn        glass        Europe N        Captain Cook                         N        carbuncle of the Garamantes                mineral        Africa T        cat’s eye        folded        glass        Middle East T        charlotte        drawn        glass        Europe T        chevron        drawn        glass        Europe N        chicken fat        wound        glass        Europe N        chief        wound        glass        Europe T        cornaline d’Aleppo        drawn        glass        Europe T        cornerless hexagonal        drawn        glass        Europe N        cross(ed) trails        wound        glass        Europe T        cut blue        drawn        glass        Europe T        Czech deco        molded        glass        Europe T        Djenne        folded        glass        Middle East N        dog bone        molded        glass        Europe N        donkey        furnace wound        glass        Middle East N        Dutch Dogon        wound        glass        Europe N        Dutch donut        wound        glass        Europe N        dZi (Zi)        dyed        mineral        India N        end-of-the-day        wound        glass        Europe N        fakrone (dhar verkrun)        folded        glass        Middle East N        feather        wound        glass        Europe N        flush eye        millefiori        glass        Europe N        French Ambassador        wound        glass        Europe N        French cross        wound        glass        Europe N        gambler        millefiori        glass        Europe N        garden roller        molded        powder glass        Africa N        ghost        wound        glass        Europe N        gooseberry        drawn        glass        Europe T        Goulimime        millefiori        glass        Europe N        greasy        drawn        glass        Europe N        green heart        drawn        glass        Europe N        Hebron        furnace wound        glass        Middle East N        hippo tooth        ground        animal        Africa N        Hubbell        molded        glass        Europe N        Hudson Bay        wound        glass        Europe N        Indo-Pacific        drawn        glass        India/Asia N        jug        wound        glass        Asia N        Kano        furnace wound        glass        Middle East T        kashi        molded        powder glass        Africa T        Kiffa        cold shaped        powder glass        Africa N        king        wound        glass        Europe N        Kitty Fisher        wound        glass        Europe N        koli        drawn        glass        Europe N        Lake Erie        wound        glass        Europe T        lamp        wound        glass        Europe N        Lewis & Clark        wound        glass        Europe T        Mali wedding        molded        glass        Europe N        Manhattan        drawn        glass        Europe T        melon                glass         T        millefiori        millefiori        glass        Europe N        morfia        fused rod        glass        Middle East N        mulberry        wound        glass        Europe T        murakad        cold shaped        powder glass        Africa N        myrrh        finger rolled        vegetable        Africa T        nila        drawn        glass        Middle East N        Nueva Cadiz        drawn        glass        Europe N        padre A        wound        glass        Asia N        padre B        wound        glass        Europe N        pineapple A        wound        glass        Europe N        pineapple B        molded        glass        Europe T        pony        drawn        glass        Europe T        pound        drawn        glass        Europe N        rattlesnake        wound        glass        Europe T        rocaille        drawn        glass        Europe T        Russian        drawn        glass        Europe T        seed        drawn        glass        Europe N        segi A        cold shaped        powder glass        Africa N        segi B        ground        glass        Africa N        segi C        drawn        glass        Africa N        Sherpa coral        molded        glass        Europe N        skunk        wound        glass        Europe N        snake        molded        glass        Europe N        television        wound        glass        Europe N        thousand eye        wound        glass        Europe T        three-cut        drawn        glass        Europe N        tic-tac-toe        wound        glass         Europe T        tile        molded        glass        Europe N        Tombstone A        molded        glass        Europe N        Tombstone B        drawn        glass        Europe N        trade wind        drawn        glass        India/Asia T        two-cut        drawn        glass        Europe N        Vaseline        molded        glass        Europe N        Venetian stripe        wound        glass        Europe T        watermelon        drawn        glass        Europe N        wedding cake        wound        glass        Europe T        white heart A        drawn        glass        Europe T        white heart B        wound        glass         Europe T        yellow heart        wound        glass        Europe N        Zen        wound        glass        Europe           Revised:  4 June 2001