Prosser beads are African trade beads named after the Prosser brothers. The brothers invented a button making machine in the 1830′s, and started to make beads around 1840. By the 1860′s all beads were being made in England using that button-making machine and traded in Africa. The process consists of molding a dry porcelain powder under great pressure and then firing it. The finished product was then called porcelain beads. This method allowed for making beads only one at a time. Prosser Beads were opaque, and not translucent.
Two types of prossers beads have been found so far, one is spherical and the other one is short and cylindrical. However, all Prosser beads have a thin seam around the equator. One end is rounded and smooth, while the other is flat and rough or pebbled. The perforation tapers toward the rounded end.
After 1860, Prosser beads are said to have been made in France. Jean-Félix Bapterosses used to make similar glass beads with a completely different machine. After the 1870, European war Czechs produced Prosser Beads for some time. Prosser beads have also been produced in Germany and Italy as well.
The beads were introduced into the Western United States and often used as wampum for trade with the American Indians, who then incorporated the beads into their crafts. Today, African traders call Prosser beads kankanmba beads, or kancamba beads.
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