The term Kiffa Trade bead was named after one of the old bead making centers Kiffa, Mauritania; a northwestern African country. The making of kiffa beads may date back to early 1900s in Mauritania. The central cores of these handcrafted beads were made from pulverized glass and sometimes from non-glass materials. The core surface was designed with glass slurry i.E. Crushed glass mixed with a binder or simply with spit and laboriously applied with a steel needle. This was done over and over again until the beads were totally covered. The semi-finished beads were then placed in small containers and heated to fuse the glass on open fires. Because Kiffa beads achieve such intricate designs using very simple tools and materials, they are believed as an example of the highest level of artistic skill and ingenuity in bead-making.
Since the early 1990s, due to the ever increasing demand for these magical beads to supply the collectors’ market, an organized group of Mauritanian bead making women began with the production of new Kiffa-like beads. Although the making of modern beads involved basically the similar method that were used in making the old beads the quality may not same to the fine workmanship and delicate designs of the old beads. Genuine old kiffa trade beads can still be found in this day and age with luck.
There are different variations in styles and shapes of these beautiful African trade beads. Their colors, shapes and the many different intricate decorative patterns all have specific meanings. Probably the most popular type is beads with polychromatic triangles with different colors and chevron-type patterns and decorations that resemble eyes. Complimentary sets of three triangles, consisting of one blue, one polychromatic and one red each, were worn in the hair at temple height. Diamond-shaped beads, which also come in three variants, have been traditionally worn as bracelets made of a strip of leather. These diamond shape beads are believed to protect and to increase the fertility of their wearers. A wide range of sizes and decorative patterns of spherical, cylindrical and cone-shaped beads were worn as hair ornaments and pendants.