For your consideration in this lot is a necklace of oblong octagon shaped Dutch opaque large trade beads. There are 17 beads on this necklace. The beads are varying shades of clear to milky white with an iridescent sheen. The beads are 1 5/8" long and 1/2" wide with a 1 5/8” circumference and 8 faceted sides. Europeans realized early on that beads were important to Native Americans. The Dutch West India Company (W.I.C.) used the beads for trading with natives in America and Africa. Corporations, such as the Hudson Bay Company, and individuals, such as Stephen A. Frost, developed lucrative bead-trading markets with the Indians. The East India Company (V.O.C.) must have also used them for trade, as Dutch Trade beads are also found in Polynesia. Beads of this age and size are rare and highly sought after.