Bead Dictionary Letter L

Introduction

In the late 1990s, Penny Diamanti, Joyce Diamanti and Robert K. Liu started working on a Bead Dictionary. Around 2009, after much work by the Diamantis, the Bead Dictionary was posted on the Beadazzled website. Through the years, additions were made by Beadazzled. In the summer of 2018, when the Washington DC Beadazzled store and its website closed, the Bead Dictionary was offered to Ornament. This is a unique resource, especially rich for information on beads of ethnographic and ancient origins. As Ornament has only a staff of three, we are slowly reposting it on our website, updating or expanding some of the entries and are adding search features, links and references as time permits. The Bead Dictionary covers primarily beads and other perforated ornaments, but also tools and materials used by those who make jewelry utilizing beads. Photographs from the Ornament archives are being added, as well as new images taken expressly for the Bead Dictionary and others are being brought up to current standards, as many of these images are almost 30 years old. Original photography was by Robert K. Liu, while Cas Webber did additional photos for Beadazzled, noted in the captions as RKL or CW, after first captions.

This Dictionary of Beads is a labor of love and a work in progress. We welcome your comments and suggestions through the Contact link. To navigate, select from the visual index above to jump to the letter you want in the Dictionary, but give the page a little time to load first. To get back to the top and select another letter use the arrow button. We are continuously adding to the Dictionary, so check back often. 

To search for keywords in Dictionary headings, use your browser's search function; for example in Internet Explorer use Control+F and in Apple Command+F, then type in your keyword. We hope you enjoy this (not-so-tiny) treasure, and learn more about the vast world of Beads.

Labradorite

Information to come...

10/27/2009 : 10/27/2009 modified

Lampworked Beads

Information to come...

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

See Also: Indonesian Lampworked Beads—New

Lapidary-Worked Glass

With the long history of jade and other hardstone carving in China, it is not unexpected that this lapidary technique was extended to glass, especially in the Qing Dynasty. Because of the large numbers of court or mandarin necklaces, there were many glass substitutes for precious stones, like pale blue glass for aquamarine. The trans-illuminated tabular glass counterweight has an eternal knot cut into both sides, by a series of drilled holes and connected wheel-cut slots. Such beads have a maximum width of 4.5 cm. The next image shows a balustrade bead, strung with a spherical bead drilled in two axes, so that the long counterweighted portion of the court necklace could hang down at a right angle to the rest of the necklace, down the court official’s back. These two components have been similarly lapidary-worked. The last image shows some similar glass court necklace elements loose, removed from the elaborated neckware; all are lapidary-worked.

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

See Also: Mandarin Court Necklace Beads

Lapis Lazuli

The rich royal blue in lapis lazuli, caused by sulphur, is sprinkled with glittering flecks of iron pyrite, or fool’s gold. Fine lapis from the Hindu Kush may have a violet cast; paler hues from the Andes are less desirable. White or grayish calcite veining often decreases the value of Andean and Siberian varieties.

One of the most precious commodities of the ancient world, lapis from the mountains of Afghanistan was among the grave treasures found in the tomb of Queen Pu-abi of Sumer and in the pyramid of Pharaoh Tutankhamen of Egypt. As a symbol of power and royalty, lapis was a favorite stone of Cleopatra. Not to be outdone, Catherine the Great of Russia paneled whole rooms in the imperial palace with slabs of lapis. The stone’s intense blue led Roman matrons to use crushed lapis in cosmetics and medieval monks to use it to illuminate their manuscripts.

Still highly prized, efforts never cease to enhance or imitate lapis: White spots may be touched up, pale lapis darkened, and other stones dyed with Prussian blue. Synthetic stones and glass colored with cobalt have even been seeded with gold flakes to simulate pyrite inclusions.

The best deposits are in Afghanistan, where it has been mined for more than 6000 years. Also found in Russia and Chile, with small deposits in the US, Burma, Angola, and Pakistan.

Lapis lazuli brings friendship, love, success, and divine favor. The golden flecks seen in some stones are said to represent wisdom gained in the journey through darkness in search of inner light. In ancient Egypt, lapis was thought to guide the passage of the soul into the afterlife.

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

Latticino

Information to come...

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

Leather

Leather cord comes in .5mm, 1mm, 1.8mm, and 2mm sizes, which makes it good for large-holed beads and pendants.

Indian leather cord, usually made from cowhide, comes in a variety of colors and sizes. Greek goat leather cording is the highest quality leather beading cord on the market. Known for its smooth finish, consistent color, and supple texture.

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

See Also: Suede Lace

Leech Beads

The leech bead and associated ornaments are indicators of the importance of the Indian lapidary industry, long distance trade and possible technological influences in antiquity. Named by bead researcher Horace Beck for the leech-shaped glass, stone and amber or ivory decorations on the curved parts of European metal fibulae of the 8th to 6th centuries BCE, the classic stone leech bead, sometimes called a bow-shaped bead or pendant, is easily recognizable but little known. Dating back to perhaps 2200 BCE from Ur, there are derivatives that have been found recently in Thailand (called notched agate pendants), the latest ca. 200 CE, as well as fakes and replicas from Asia that have come into the marketplace in the late 20th century. The prototypes are likely Indian made and primarily of agate, rarely in carnelian. From Zhou China is found a variant that is thicker and less graceful than the classic leech bead, and resembles similar ones from Taxila, India. Replicas and fakes exist in both stones, but often with stone and etched decoration combinations never found in the originals.

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

See Also: Afghan Ancient Hardstone Beads

Lenticular

Lentil

Lentils are lens-shaped beads with the perforation at a slight angle so that it enters on one side of the bead near the edge and exits on the other. This was presumably first done because attempting to drill the hole directly through the bead would cause the edge to chip and break, but it produces the interesting effect that these flat beads overlap.

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

Leverback Earwires

Information to come...

10/27/2009 : 10/27/2009 modified

Lightbulbs, Triangles, and Claws

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

See: Fulani Wedding Beads

Lobster Claw Clasp

Similar in shape to a lobster’s claw, these clasps come in a wide range of sizes and metals. A spring-loaded latch operated by a lever opens and closes these secure clasps (also known as trigger clasps) making them suitable for bracelets and anklets as well as necklaces.

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

Long-and-Short Chain

Long-and-short chain is similar in pattern to figaro chain with one drawn-out oval loop followed by one or a series of smaller round loops. The difference is that these round loops are not twisted, but are simply linked, like a cable chain.

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

Loom

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

See: Bead Loom

Lost-Wax Casting in Africa

The Baoulé people of Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa are members of the Akan group that also includes the Ashanti. The Akan have used the lost-wax, or cire-perdue, casting method for centuries. Their first ornaments were probably made of locally mined gold. Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, was first brought across the Sahara by Arab camel caravans and later to West African ports by European trading ships. Today beads and ornaments are still made by this ancient method in Ghana and the Ivory Coast—in gold for chiefs and other important persons, and in brass (often erroneously called bronze) for more humble bead-lovers in Africa and abroad. To make a bead or pendant, the craftsman first makes a model from beeswax, usually forming it from thin wax threads. Besides spherical beads and bicones, popular designs include disks, rectangles, and other geometric shapes, as well as human masks and animal motifs. The beadmaker coats the model with a slurry of fine clay and charcoal and then envelops it in coarser clay. When making small beads, he may encase several models in this thick clay mold. When the mold is heated, the melted wax drains out though openings left for this purpose (sprues), and molten brass is poured into the resulting cavity. After it cools, the mold is broken to free the casting, rough spots are filed down, and the ornament is polished with fine sand and lemon juice or a grinding wheel, if the maker can afford one. Brass beads may be given a gold wash for a more brilliant finish, or polished with black wax for an antique look. Unlike other types of casting, the lost-wax method insures that every bead is a unique original because once the mold is broken open it can’t be reused.

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified

See Also: Ashanti Gold Baoul&eacute Brass

Luster Finish

Information to come...

9/27/2009 : 9/27/2009 modified