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African Adornment - Personal Adornment Anklets - Armlets - Earplugs - Africa Adorned Parures africaines - Afrikanischer Schmuck
Thembu Leather Purses
Xhosa - Mfengu Purses
Photograph - Alice Mertens - Circa 1960
Thembu women wore highly decorated leather purses
hanging from the hip over leather skirts.
Thembu Purse Number 267
These were worn as status
objects and used to protect paper money.
Thembu Purse Number 268
The openings were so small that
sometimes a knife or razor edge had to be used to extract the note. This tight
construction was intended to help prevent theft of bank notes.
Thembu Purse Number 269
The surface, as well as multiple leather strips
were decorated with hand made brass rings, buttons and tacks.
Thembu Purse Number 270
Men who worked in the mines or
cities gave these to their wives as gifts on their return home. They were highly
prized and used to adorn.
Thembu Purse Number 7339
The Thembu - Xhosa and
Mfengu all owned related leather purses. Our examples are Thembu. Depending on
who you ask - singular or plural - they were called Isipaji - Izipaji -
Imphuthamphutha and Isipaji-saseMaiMai
Thembu Purse Number 7492
This example has been displayed on an iron stand. Contact us for larger
resolution images.
Thembu Purse Number 7492
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Zulu Ear Plug
'Iziqhaza'
Worn by men and women.
Zulu have worn ear plugs for centuries.
Our example is of the highly sought after wood, vinyl and metal pins form.
Rare Mfengu (Fingo) Knee Piece
This item was worn my young men of the Mfengu people, living in the vicinity of East London. The straps are made of goat hide. The attachment section includes brass beads much like used on girls aprons.
Today this has become a rare item. We have not seen one on the market for over 10 years.
Himba Anklet
Namibia - Angola
Married Himba women wore heavy anklets. They were made of hand wrought iron beads, then strung onto a leather support structure. Anklets such as these displayed wealth and were worn daily.
Our example is particularly old and the iron beads are extremely worn.
Himba women wore anklets until death. Nowadays Himba anklets are taken apart for their beads, then strung into necklaces and sold to tourists.
Kapsiki Armlets
Cameroon
A very fine and rare matched pair.
Another Pair
This matched pair is made from Brass
Ibo Anklet - Nigeria
A very old excellent example.
Most item is most probably of 19th century origin.
Frafra - Burkina Faso
Click thumbs to view detailed images.
This anklet was worn by Frafra women in Burkina Faso.
Tuareg Woman's Counterweight
'Assrou N´Swoul'
Tuareg pendants called Assrou N´Swoul look like like elaborate keys. They held down the robes and headscarves of wealthy Tuareg women. They were made of copper, iron, silver, brass and sometimes wood. A sandwich type technique was used in lamination.
Tuareg - 1907 Postcard
Tuareg women do not wear a veil, however the men keep their faces covered even when eating.
Tuareg woman wore the elaborate counterweights on their robes and veils as pendants to hold them in place. The young woman on the left has one under her right arm, as do the two women walking away to the right.
Tuareg Counterweights
The meaning of assrou n´swoul in Tamazight is: key thrown over the shoulder. They are highly prized by both owners and collectors. Blacksmiths are called inadan and are famous for their metalwork in the Sahara.
Click Thumbnails for Larger Images This assrou n´swoul is of the highest quality and the patina confirms its age.
Assrou n´swoul of this standard are extremely rare.
Tuareg History
Descended from
Berbers in the region that is now Libya, the Tuareg are descendants of ancient
Saharan peoples described by Herodotus, who mentions the ancient Libyan people,
the Garamantes. Archaeological testimony is the ruins of Germa. Later, they
expanded southward, into the Sahel.
The Tuareg (also known as Twareg, Touareg, Amazigh, Imuhagh and Itargiyen, are a nomadic pastoralist people and the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa. Today the Tuareg inhabit parts of Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso.
Niger - Tuareg
Following the independence of African countries in 1960s, Tuareg territory was artificially divided into the modern nations of Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso.
Ethiopian Cross Pendants
Late 19th to early 20th Century
Click either image for a higher resolution image.
Example A Example B
Ethiopian crosses have their origin in the Coptic Church, "the Christian church of Egypt", established by Mark in the first century. Over time, Copic teachings spread to Ethiopia, where the representation of the cross further developed. Ethiopian crosses can be so sophisticated that sometimes it is difficult to find the cross in the design! Stylistically, personalized names were given according to the region or towns they were made in, such as Axum, Lalibela, or Gondar.
Maria Theresa Coptic Cross Austro Hungarian Thaler
Ethiopian crosses collected during the last 100 years or more were generally hammered from Maria Theresa silver thalers (dollars). These silver coins were the currency of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Maria Theresa was the empress from 1740 to 1780. In fact, the Maria Theresa thaler served as a trade dollar world wide for 100's of years. Initially minted in 1782, it is still used today in some places. Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Turkey, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Niger, and Chad, are only a beginning list of the countries that have used or still use the Maria Theresa. It was also used in early America.
Brass Bracelet
Click Thumbnails for Larger Images
We don't know where this bracelet was made. Someone suggest Tibet.
It has age, is hammered overall and made in two sections so as to achieve a hollowed section.
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