Jewelry from the Sea
Wampum touches lightly on the surface of Martha’s Vineyard’s unique and salty history.Not only can its distinctive purple and white shells be found on the beaches;once worked and refined it can be found in its basic shape suspended from a stringaround someone’s neck, in the smoothed beads of a bracelet or, in its natural shapes and sizes, as filling for a glass lamp. Wampum is connected to both the seafaring culture of Martha’s Vineyard and to the history of the Native American people, the Wampanoags. Considered to be of very high value, the Wampanoags used Wampum for trading, and for making important agreements. They also created finely detailed belts, jewelry and many other items from local Vineyard Wampum.
Wampum - not just a seashell
The clam shell native to the Atlantic Ocean and the north eastern coast is more specifically called a Quahog. The Wampum comes from the central spiral within the shell. As the shells are broken in the waves and smoothed down by salt and sand, the outcome is a beautiful piece of purple wampum. Finding a whole Quahog shell is easy, but finding this specific purple piece of the shell is much harder.
Kate Taylor, Singer Songwriter and Wampum Artist
It was Kate Taylor, already
famous for her singing and song-writing talents, who propelled wampum back into the
Island’s consciousness. Her interest and artistry in creating wearable works of art
made Kate
a fashion icon and wampum jewelry,
Island chic.In short, when Kate Taylor started wearing wampum, people noticed.Decades later, her bracelets, earrings, necklaces and beadwork are distinctive and, as such, remain among the most popular wampum jewelry ever designed.
Wampum, a True Vineyard Tradition
At times Wampum can be recognized as a dead giveaway to a true year round Vineyarder; however, many visitors to the Island also appreciate this purple shell. Jewelry can be found all around the Vineyard: Beadnik’s is a great place to get the beads to make your own jewelry, and other places like CB Stark and the Cliffs up in Aquinnah offer amazing finished pieces.
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Buying Wampum
Over the past thirty years Wampum has played a large part in the jewelry industry of Martha’s Vineyard. The sculpting and shaping of Wampum beads is a difficult and detailed job, which is only one of the reasons why the beads can range in prices from about .50 cents to $40. The shells can be thin and brittle and the fumes from cutting can be very toxic. Producing just one bead can take many hours.
What to Look For
Color - The deeper the purple the higher the value
Pattern - Swirls and mixing of the different purple shades add texture to the finished product and value to the bead itself.
Size- Large shells for crafting big beads are hard to find.
Method- Crafting Wampum by hand makes the beads more expensive then those produced by machine.
Finish- Matte or polished.
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Martha's Vineyard Online, MVOL.com would like to thank Kate Taylor, Tom Nedow at Beadniks in Vineyard Haven and Colleen Barnett for their contributions to this article.
