Who the heck is Peter Francis, Jr.?
The New York Times calls him the “world’s leading authority on beads.” If you don’t believe them ask: The British Museum, the Smithsonian Institute, The Denver Museum of Natural History, The American Museum of Natural History, The National Museum of the Philippines, Harvard University, Brown University, Deccan College (University, India)… Well, you get the picture. See these pages for museums, universities and his current schedule. He sounds stuffy. He has a scientific attitude toward beads, but stuffy? Check out the site or ask nearly any bead society or anyone who has taken his workshops. Oh, all right. How did he get started in beads? This is the most FAQ. He taught English in Iran between 1975 and 1978. Rather than buying Persian carpets, he began collecting beads. He soon realized that 1.) They were a window to most everything, 2.) They were a perfect fit for his broad interests, and 3.) No one really knew anything about them. His next step was to go to India (Deccan College, Pu
