In the winter of 2018, my husband, Michael, went for a walk in Copenhagen during a lunch break and came across a flea market sign outside a shop selling antique African artefacts. The old man who had owned the shop for decades had recently passed away, and the remaining inventory was being sold off. That night, Michael came home with a large black bin bag full of African Trade Beads. My first thought was ‘More stuff! Where are we going to put this?’ Michael assured me that the beads were for our nine-year-old daughter, Siska. He thought she might enjoy playing with them.
They were dirty and there were a lot of them, so I put them in the kitchen sink and cleaned them. My mother and her husband spent many years living in East Africa during the Eighties, and, knowing my mum’s lifelong interest in collecting beads, I sent her photos of our new acquisition. A minute later she called me up, an urgency in her voice: ‘these beads are not a plaything’. It turned out she was right: many of the pieces Michael brought home that night were in fact museum pieces. They hold a long history and have travelled continents; they have had many owners and have been passed down through several generations.
Being an art historian, I started researching the provenance of the beads which turns out to be an extraordinary story of trade, old glass workshops, secret recipes, African tribes and their customs, long travels and of course the predominant reason for the beads still being around today: the treasure they represent and the affection in which they were held by those who have worn them for centuries. I decided to breathe new life into these extraordinary artefacts.
The beads used in my necklaces are old – varying from antique to vintage – with the majority being African trade beads. The history of trade beads dates back to 16th century when Europeans arrived on the West coast of Africa to exploit the continent´s rich resources of gold, palm oil, ivory and, of course, slaves. During the 18th century trade intensified and the demand for glass beads from Europe – mostly from Venice but also from Bohemia and the Netherlands – grew.
The beads do not exist in abundance. Often hours spent trawling tiny shops hidden away in the alleyways of obscure bazaars rarely result in more than a handful. And despite the fact that there are not many of us searching for such old beads, the shop owners know of their worth. They know that they are rare and the best of them know the history and often have a keen interest in giving them a new life.
The Nordic Geist and the respect for the years of multiple purposes of the use of the beads (and silver wear) make each piece of jewellery unique in the true sense of the word.
One necklace after another pieced together with passion, awe, love and curiosity. Always assembled on the principles of contemporary Scandinavian aesthetics, the necklaces signify a delicate rawness.
These beads will soon be in the custody of their new owner. By investing in and wearing this necklace, you are preserving and adding to their remarkable stories. Treat them kindly and protect them from rough handling. There will never be two identical pieces. As Siska was deprived of her gift, we decided to name the company after her.
