Styling With African Beads
African beads are on my radar as an emerging interior design trend. You may have seen them in IG posts and not even realized what you were looking at unless you checked sources.
Often layered over other décor or styled in flat lays, African beads are elegant and versatile accent pieces. Collecting them can be addicting since not only are they beautiful, but learning about them and the different cultures behind them is fascinating, and even better if you’re able to pair learning with traveling.
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My interest in African beads began during a trip to Morocco a few years back. I stumbled upon a shop deep in the heart of Marrakesh’s Medina and became acquainted with the owner, who specializes in Saharan antiques and jewelry.
Some oversized brass beads hanging on a wall caught my eye (and that wall was crammed with oversized beads :) and I just thought they’d be beautiful and versatile as home décor.
I want everything in my home to have a story or meaning associated with it, at least as much as possible, so finding these brass beads in the wonderful sensory overload that is Morocco totally fit the bill.
In the time since that trip, I’m now seeing strands of beads from different parts of Africa (Ghana more than anywhere) crop up in interiors boutiques, Instagram imagery, and notably, interior décor buying marts. The latter often represents trends coming down the pipeline since they haven’t necessarily hit the retail consumer market yet.
Global style with an African Influence was a trend noted by interior designer Carla Aston at the 2021 Dallas Home & Gift Market. She snapped pics of these beads at the show.
My African bead backstory - Morocco
As I mentioned, we were in Marrakesh staying in a riad near the Spice Market (Place des Epices) in Marrakesh’s ancient walled Medina. “Near” is used loosely here since finding it, even from even the Spice Market, was truly epic at first, requiring wandering down numerous passageways with hair pin twists and turns and literally having to duck our heads to walk through the final passage to arrive at our riad’s fortified Berber door. (And we loved every minute of it!)
The Spice Market is lined with stalls featuring spectacularly colorful mounds of spices and other wares as well as a few actual shops.
This shop, Abril Ali, had display windows chock a block with fantastic looking Berber, Tuareg, and other Saharan jewelry and artifacts. Naturally, I was drawn like a moth to light. 😁
We went inside and began looking around and talking with the shop owner, Fouzzi. He explained how he specializes in Saharan vintage and antique jewelry and items, mostly Berber and Tuareg.
Long story short, I ended up settling on a vintage Tuareg palanquin stake used as part of a camel saddle or to stake a Bedouin tent, and these large brass Peul beads.
The carved wooden stake used to support a camel saddle or to stake tents in the Sahara is hanging on the wall under a reproduction Moroccan mask. Photo | TDW Media
My travels are defined by hauling old, awkwardly shaped treasures that take up serious suitcase real estate.😂
Vintage brass Peul beads sit on a stone dish (left). The beads weren’t originally strung that way - they were used separately and put together for display at Abril Ali. Vintage clay beads from Mali hang over driftwood.
Fouzzi using bicarbonate of soda to shine up my brass beads. Look behind to see some of Abril Ali’s amazing jewelry collection. The collection of camel palanquin stakes is on the upper left.
We ended up visiting again a couple times and bought a few more things and became more acquainted with Fouzzi. He inherited the shop from his father, so he grew up in the business, and is truly an amazing wealth of knowledge, especially jewelry.
He explained that my brass beads for example, are from Peul or Wodaabe people in sub-Saharan Africa. Peul, Fulani, Fulbe, and Wodaabe are related but distinct groups widely dispersed across the sub-Saharan areas of Sahel and West Africa.
Many are nomadic herds people who traditionally relied more on cattle than camels for their livelihood. (Compared to Saharan Berbers and Tuaregs who utilized camels more, often specializing in transporting goods from sub-Saharan Africa through the desert to the Mediterranean coast for sale in Europe.)
Sitting outside Abril Ali with the spice market in the background. An old saddle on the left is one of many interesting finds.
My brass Peul beads from Marrakesh - upper left. A reproduction Arabic astrolabe (used to navigate the desert via the stars). Vintage clay beads from Mali on the right. Small brass “rice” beads from Ghana - bottom center.
SHOP THE LOOK
Bead Styling Ideas
Ready for some bead styling ideas? I love to drape the beads over and around other items. I know this will come as a surprise to those familiar with my blog, but I think plants and beads go great together! Ha.
But really, I decided it’s like the formula for creating a beautiful planter where you aim for a “thriller, filler, and spiller.”
Air plants are great for this. (No inconvenient roots or soil!) I love putting an air plant on a surface - a stone bowl, a piece of petrified wood, or a wood platter for instance. The air plant is the “thriller” the bowl or platter is the “filler” and the beads are the “spiller.”
[Related post Caring For Air Plants - The Definitive Guide - including displaying them]
A Tillandsia xerographic (left) is the thriller, the black soapstone bowl is the “filler” and the Spanish moss and Ghana bone and brass beads are “spillers.”
Last spring I found these vintage clay beads from Mali from Africa Direct. They’re supposed to have come from the collection of Austin Cooper, who collected a variety of beads from around the globe over a span of 30 years.
Vintage clay beads from Mali draped over a silvered piece of driftwood.
SHOP THE LOOK
I also love the idea of displaying beads more prominently from a stand. Last winter I bought bone and brass beads from Ghana from the Erin Martin showroom in Napa Valley’s downtown St. Helena.
A few weeks ago, I wandered into Sonoma Nesting Co, an antiques store in the tiny North Coast town of Guerneville, CA that turned out to have a small specialty in African artifacts.
There I found this black, wooden Ashanti fertility doll (pictured below). They’re given to someone who’s hoping to conceive and passed down to girls to help prepare for motherhood by caring for it. (Ever had the high school assignment of carrying around the sack of flour for a week to simulate caring for a baby?)
I propped her against my mirror and then draped the Ghana beads for display. She needs a more stable stand, but you get the idea.
SHOP THE LOOK
Recycled fair trade glass and bone beads, both from Ghana spill out of a bowl with two Tillandsia xerographica air plants on my vintage travertine cocktail table.
Not my favorite image, but I liked the light color of the wood and bone beads and stone tusk contrasted with the green Hoya pubicalyx ‘Splash’ for my post 5 Best Houseplants For Beginners.
Here I contrasted light with dark in my TV room bookcase by draping the Ghana brass and bone bead strands over a hunk of coral from a long ago trip to Hawaii. (Supporting evidence for my habit of bringing home large, heavy objects from trips. :)
If you’re headed to Marrakesh, here’s where to find the shop:
Abril Ali
Rahba El KAdima
No 176
Marrakesh Medina
Tel: 05 24 44 23 73
Don’t be afraid to call if you can’t find it. Monolingual me was jealous listening to Fouzzi move fluidly between French, Arabic, English, Spanish as people came and went.
If all else fails (and trust me - wayfinding can fail spectacularly - Google maps doesn’t function in the Medina labyrinth) - go to the Spice Market and locate it or ask someone who works in the souk for help.
Here’s another great post I found on Fouzzi and his Saharan jewelry store.
Also a must see in Marrakesh: The Museum of Berber Art housed within the Jardin Majorelle. Jewelry is the star of the collection. The gardens have an amazing display of cacti and other exotic plants.
Want to take the deep dive? Africa Adorned is an out of print coffee table book and reference with spectacular photography and features Fouzzi as an expert source. I bought a copy as soon as I got home.
Astrolabe and jewelry shopping in Essaouira, Morocco. Photo | TDW Media
What do you think? Beads, from Africa or anywhere in the world, are interesting to learn about and collect. Beautiful and versatile, they instantly give your décor a richer, more layered look.
If nothing else, this trend sure makes me want to travel more! How would you style with beads in your own home? Which do you like - colorful, neutral, glass, brass? Leave a comment below and let me know.
Seeing the sights in Essaouira, Morocco. Photo | TDW Media
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XO,
Tina