tour 9 of 10
Jewellery
Brass anklet (ogba)
A wealthy Nigerian woman would have worn one of
these huge circlets round each ankle. The anklets showed off the
wealth of her family in two ways: firstly they are made of brass,
which is expensive. Secondly she could not move around easily in
them, which showed that she did not need to do any household tasks
like washing, cooking or
cleaning.
A
few final
facts...
In parts of
West Africa, expensive anklets made from brass or solid ivory cut
from a tusk were status symbols and formed part of a
woman's dowry. They were hammered into shape and then
fitted on the woman's ankles by a specialist itinerant
smith.