(10) Red White Heart Trade Beads Hudson's Bay Company Venetians 150+ Years Old

Description

Red white heart trade beads were traded to the Native Americans during the fur trad era and earlier. Produced in Venice, called Venetians, and brought to the Americas by the HBC. The beads originate from the Huron Indians. Very old!
Larger size. Excellent condition for their age. Show a good surface patina. Every purchase gets you 10 beads. The beads you get may vary just slightly in color and condition.
Native American Trade Beads History:
The first European explorers and colonists gave Native Americans glass and ceramic beads as gifts and used beads for trade with them. Native Americans had made bone, shell, and stone beads long before the Europeans arrived in North America, and continued to do so. However, European glass beads, mostly from Venice, some from Holland and, later, from Poland and Czechoslovakia, became popular and sought after by Native Americans. Europeans realized early on that beads were important to Native Americans and corporations such as the Hudson Bay Trading Company developed lucrative bead-trading markets with them. The Hudson Bay Trading Company was an organized group of explorers who ventured into the North American continent for trade expeditions during the 19th century.
The availability of glass beads increased, their cost decreased, and they became more widely used by Indians throughout North America. Ceramic beads declined in popularity as glass bead manufacturers came to dominate the market because of their variety of color, price, and supply.