Amani Beaded Flower Earrings, Kenya Flag Colours, 4cm

Round beaded flower earrings from Kenya, about 4cm across, worked bead by bead in the black, red, green and white of the flag around a faceted silver centre. Amani is the Swahili word for peace, and the shop is called Mulembe beads, which is the same word in Lubukusu. The maker calls the design peony inspired: green arcs curl out from the centre stone like petals on a white ground, with red arcs around them and a ring of black beads holding the edge. These are the boldest of the flag pieces in this shop. The face is solid rather than open, so the colours read from across a room, and at about 4cm across they are a statement pair that sits best against a plain top. If you would rather the colours were quieter, the Infinity Knot pair from the same maker sets them into a knot shape, and the star shaped Beaded Flower pair is open lacework you can see through. The beads are the small glass seed beads sold across Kenya as Maasai beads, which is the maker's own term for them. The green ones are translucent and the white and black are opaque, so the pattern shifts as the light moves, and the centre stone sits in a ring of gold tone beads. They hang from plain silver tone hooks. Keep them dry, put them on after perfume or lotion, and store them flat.