Bida Glass and Beadwork

Glass working at Bida is documented from the nineteenth century and is understood to be older, sitting within the Nupe Kingdom and its court patronage of craft. Bead and bangle makers worked in defined quarters of the town, and their trade passed within families. Much of the glass used was recycled rather than made from raw materials, and imported bottles and broken glass increasingly supplied the workshops through the colonial period. The number of practising workshops has fallen, and the craft is now sustained by a small number of families and by demand for ornament and souvenirs.

Glass is broken down, sorted by colour and melted in a small furnace, then drawn, wound or shaped by hand into beads and bangles using simple iron tools while it is workable. Beads are strung and finished by rubbing; bangles are formed and twisted, sometimes with contrasting colour trailed onto the surface. Finished beads are combined into strands, collars, cuffs and crowns, worked with thread over a fabric or leather base.

Beads carried rank as well as decoration across much of Nigeria: beaded crowns, staffs and slippers were restricted to rulers in several traditions, and beaded ornament marked title-holders, brides and priests. Bida's output supplied wide trade networks, and the town's craft quarters remain part of its identity, though the working trade is much smaller than in the past.

The court that patronised the town's craftsmen is described on the Nupe Kingdom page, and its brass and metal work belongs to the wider tradition covered in bronze and brass casting.