The Maasai make much use of colourful glass beads for their traditional ornaments and dress. The pattern of beads carry messages, such as where the wearer is from and to which age group he/she belongs. The construction of these bead ornaments is one of the many tasks of the women in the manyatta. MAGSA women's group produces many such ornaments which can be purchased via this website. These include both traditional ornaments with strict colour coding, and more modern jewellery items. All ornaments are custom made, and customers are invited to submit a description of the recipient (not just size, but name, age, character, etc) in order that the women can tailor make the ornament to suit the wearer of the item. The ornament(s) will then be delivered with a written explanation of the patterns used.
To view the types of ornaments available, browse the thumbnails below (click on each to view a larger image). To order the items, send an email to both magsaoutreach@yahoo.com and magsawomen@yahoo.com listing the product codes and the quantities of each item requested. In some photos there is more than one item for a given product code, in this case describe the requested item by the order in which it appears in the photo, e.g. top left, second from the right, etc. If you would like tailor made item(s), with an explanation of the colour patterns used, send a description of the wearer(s) in the email. After having sent the email you will receive a reply with a quote, an estimation of the delivery time (depending on quantity of items and location of customer) and instructions for payment. |
