Two green hearts, rarer than white hearts, made in Venice, with clear yellow-green cores and red-brown, white, and blue stripes on the sides. They were excavated in Mali, West Africa. I was told they were made between the 16th and 18th centuries when I acquired them. The surface color of the smaller beads is vivid, while the surface of the larger beads appears white with small silver flecks (images 11-12, and after image 13 show light). Both have a core of clear yellow-green, thinly coated with red-brown, with opaque white bands and clear blue bands running vertically. The larger white beads are almost the same as the smaller ones, but most of the vertical stripes are thicker, and silver or white flecks are visible in the small holes, confirming silvering. Silvering depends greatly on the burial conditions, such as humidity, heat, and soil, and slightly on the glass chemical composition. For example, it can sometimes be seen on modern glass found on riverbeds. The white powdery substance covering the inside of the holes is considered to be erosion marks caused by the glass undergoing a chemical reaction with substances in the ground, causing the glass surface to begin to peel off in a powdery form. When light is held up to the cores, both show traces of annual rings in the pale yellow-green glass, indicating that clear yellow-green glass was wrapped around the core. However, the small beads have small air bubbles, while the larger silvered beads have remarkably large air bubbles, and there are also holes with large air bubble marks, and silvering is also seen in the air bubble marks. Both are thought to have been made by wrapping molten glass, manufactured at a low temperature, with a red-brown layer and thin vertical blue stripes, then drawing out the cane and cutting it to this size. For this reason, many fine lines appear on the surface, such as the red-brown areas, along the holes. As explained at the time of acquisition, Venetian green hearts were indeed made as early as the beginning of the 17th century (around 1630) and were excavated from sites of the same period. However, the main place of origin is North America, and they are called Hudson Bay beads, which were used in the fur trade with Native Americans. The time of their influx into Africa is said to be around 1890, so the vividly colored small beads may correspond to beads from the late 19th century. On the other hand, the silvered larger beads show significant silvering due to natural conditions, and also have large air bubbles, so it is conceivable that slightly earlier beads from the 17th century to the late 19th century flowed into Mali, a hub of Islamic trade. These items, with their beautiful clear yellow-green cores, make me want to reconfirm the differences in Venetian beads used in African trade. Size: Large: Length approx. 6mm, Width approx. 11mm, Hole diameter approx. 3mm