amulet
- Museum number
- Af2006,23.70
- Description
-
Chest amulet made of silver-alloy. The overall form reminds a pyramid. Made of two parts. The base, the back-wall of the amulet, is made of an iron sheet shaped by hammering and cutting in the form of a quadrilateral figure with two straight parallel sides and two concave sides. On one of the straight sides it has been folded into a tube to accommodate the rope which was holding the amulet.
The second part, the front-wall of the amulet, is made of a silver-alloy sheet shaped by cutting, heating and embossing in the form of a four-level pyramid with base shaped in the form of a quadrilateral figure with two straight parallel sides and two concave sides. That second part matches exactly the form of the iron-base. At the top and in each of the four angles of the lower level is a button-shaped protuberance made by embossing. The whole surface is decorated with incised geometrical lines and figures.
The two walls had been fixed together by folding and hammering the four sides of the iron-base to clip the the sides of the front-wall.
- Production date
- 1900-1950 (?)
- Curator's comments
- This chest amulet was made by an unknown Inadan (metal artisan of the Tuareg/Tamashek people), possibly in early twentieth century.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 2006 (24 November)
- Acquisition notes
- Purchased during fieldwork and collecting trips to Mali by Dr Claude Ardouin (Dept of AOA) from 10 to 25 November 2006. Purchased from funds provided by Townley Group.
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Af2006,23.70
