Bead Dictionary Letter M

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.

Magatama

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Maher, Bruce St. John

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Majapahit Beads

Majapahit beads were first produced around 900 AD in Eastern and Central Java. One popular technique for making majapahit beads includes the application of cane glass chips in a mosaic pattern similar to that used for the later Venetian millefiori beads. Another technique involves feathering by trailing a tool through glass stripes while the bead is still molten. Bird beads are one of the best-known beads in this category, though they have been copied using other techniques and materials. Majapahit beads show the influence of Roman and Middle Eastern beads from before 700 AD.

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See Also: Jatim Beads

Mala

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See Also: Guru Beads

Malachite

Malachite comes from the Greek for “mallow,” alluding to the color of the plant’s leaf. Marked by varying shades of vivid emerald to deep rich green in swirling concentric rings or parallel lines, malachite is opaque and soft, but takes on a silky luster when polished and is easy to carve. Formed from copper-containing solutions in or near copper ore deposits, malachite is sometimes intergrown with azurite, turquoise, or chrysocolla.

Malachite was popular in the ancient world carved into amulets and ornaments, and powdered for eye shadow. The Russian czars made lavish use of malachite in paneled walls and inlaid furniture.

Zaire, the former USSR, Australia, the US, and southern Africa account for most of the world’s malachite deposits.

Believed to draw out pain, malachite was valued as an all-purpose healing stone. In particular, it was thought to cure stocmach and circulatory disorders, and promote sound sleep and clear vision. Stones with eye markings served as a third eye to deflect evil. Malachite amulets were favored for small children, in particular, to protect them from witches and other dangers.

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Mandarin Court Necklace Beads

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Mandrel

Mandrels are cones, cylinders, cubes, or other forms that serve as cores around which wire can be wrapped, bent, or otherwise shaped to create a precise size or design.

Ring mandrels are tapered rods marked with ring sizes, which can be used for wrapping wire to make rings or simply for measuring rings. When you slide a ring on the mandrel, the point at which it stops will tell you its size. To make a ring of a certain size, wrap your wire around the mandrel where the desired size is marked. Rather than being smooth cones, some ring mandrels have graduated steps that keep your loops uniform when you’re making several of the same size. Ring mandrels can also be used to remove dents from or straighten bent rings. Bracelet mandrels are similarly used for making metal bracelets as well as for shaping or removing dents and kinks on bangles or bracelets made of malleable metals. Their smooth tapered shape allows for bracelets of various sizes. Stainless steel bracelet mandrels are helpful when forming glass bracelets and bangles. Various other mandrels, with or without markings, can be used for general all-purpose wire wrapping.

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Marble Beads

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Marvering

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Mauritanean Beads

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Meerschaum Beads

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Melon Beads

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Memory Wire

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See: Spring Wire

Merovignian Beads

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Metal Beads

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See Also: Silver Gold Gold-Filled Thai Silver Bali Beads Indian Silver Beads

Metalized Beads

Plastic beads that have been plated with metal and coated with an anti-tarnish finish. These lightweight and inexpensive beads are popular for affordable and fashionable necklaces. Often designs mimic popular bead Indian, African or Asian metal bead shapes and patterns at a fraction of the price. Antiquing adds interest to metalized beads with patterns. The finish on these beads made in the USA is very durable providing good value. Imports, however, can sometimes flake and peel.

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Millefiori Beads

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Millimeter Gauge

A millimeter gauge measures the exact size of beads in millimeters. The best gauges are solidly made of well-tooled brass, so one part remains firm and fixed, while the other part slides smoothly. To obtain an accurate measurement, place a bead between the gauge’s two jaws, slide the two parts so the jaws close on the bead, then read the size from the millimeter scale.

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Miracle Beads

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Molded Glass Beads

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See Also: Pressed Glass Beads Druks Firepolished Beads

Moonstone

Moonstone has a blue-white sheen that is reminiscent of the changing colors of the moon in the night sky. Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the United States account for most of the world’s production. The Celts and the Romans liked to wear moonstone set in rings, brooches or pendants. The Art Nouveau period reintroduced the use of moonstone in jewelry making.

Europeans believed that moonstone could reconcile estranged lovers and cure sleeplessness. Moonstone powerfully affects the female reproductive cycle. It helps with PMS, conception, pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.

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Mosaic Beads

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See Also: Millefiori Beads Face Beads—Roman Venetian Trade Beads Mosaic Beads—Roman

Mosaic Beads—Roman

Dating to as early as 100 CE, but in use during the 3rd to 5th centuries in northern Europe, these cylindrical Roman mosaic beads often have marvered facets. In the photograph, the two cylindrical beads on the left are made by rolling a pad of mosaic glass around a mandrel. The faceted cylindrical bead (2.46 cm long) on the right is probably also so manufactured, but two strips of red glass added to the mosaic pad form caps. The spherical bead with the same colors and types of mosaic glass could have been formed by marvering a strip of mosaic glass onto a wound red glass core, but this example is made by rolling a pad of red glass with the embedded mosaic, as can be seen by the join line. Such beads are often sought by collectors.

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Moss Agate

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Mother-of-Pearl

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See Also: Abalone Shell Beads Pearls

Moukite

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Mouse Tail

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See: Satin Cord

Mullaney, Mary

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See Also: Chevron Beads—Contemporary Heron Glass

Murini

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Myrrh Beads

Scented beads made of aromatic pastes are widely prized for their aphrodisiac powers in Northern and sub-Saharan Africa. The small knobby beads known as “myrrh” beads are especially popular in Mali and Senegal, where women concoct a vegetal paste from a mixture of sweet-smelling substances. The main ingredient is a fragrant powder derived from the fruit of a West African tree, Detarium microcarpum, which grows in the tropical savanna belt south of the Sahara. Myrrh beads are not made from the resinous sap of the shrub Commiphora myrrha, as some mistakenly think. That thorny bush is native to East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and its pungent dried sap is best known as the gift of the third Wise Man to the infant Jesus.

Following recipes passed down from mother to daughter, women mix the floury powder with other fragrant ingredients, such as nutmeg, cloves, flower petals, or bulbs. Next they add hot water and then slowly boil the mixture down until it thickens and forms a paste. As it cools, the women knead the paste and shape it into little balls, which they perforate with a needle and then leave to dry in the sun. The beads are usually a muted tan, their natural color. In Senegal, however, the women often make the beads a bit bigger, and they are sometimes dyed red or, more rarely, black or green.

In Mali, married women string lengths of myrrh beads and then bind them together with strands of perforated seeds to make multistrand belts, which are called “waist beads,” although they sit on the hips. Senegalese women sometimes soak their myrrh beads in imported perfume and mix them with glass beads instead of seeds. In either case, however, the belt is worn under a woman’s wrapper, or skirt, where the aroma of the myrrh beads is heightened by contact with her body oils and the warmth of her skin. Although the beads are unseen, their seductive scent combines with the alluring undulation and mysterious rustling of the strands as they move with her hips, making a woman highly desirable and giving pleasure to her admirers as well as her husband.

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