Lost legacy of Bida Bikini

At the crossroads of west-central Nigeria in the Nupe city of Bida, Masagá glassmakers manufacture raw black glass, a method that has remained a secret for nearly two centuries. This patriarchal organisation is composed of guild members who distinguish themselves by the claim that they originally migrated from Egypt to Nupeland in the mid-nineteenth century.

The Masagá glassmakers of Bida are renowned for their production of glass beads and bangles made from modern glass and from locally manufactured raw glass known as bikini. Bikini is a black shiny molten glass produced and used by Masagá craftspeople before the importation of modern glass bottles into this area. Bikini served as the main raw material for glass work between the mid-19th and 20th centuries, but due to the expense and difficulty of sourcing the raw materials, the production and usage of bikini glass was phased out and replaced with easily sourced recycled glass.