The Tuareg from West and North Africa wear elaborate jewelry on festivals and holidays, when men and women alike depart from socially accepted standards of decorum that encourage a more restrained approach to everyday body ornamentation. A woman probably wore these highly decorated earrings. Tuareg women may inherit their jewelry from their mothers or receive it as gifts from their husbands when they marry. Silver is particularly valued because the Tuareg associate silver with clarity and happiness.
Description:
Silver alloy c-form interlocking earrings with flat ended faceted terminals. Incised facets extend onto the top of the earring shaft.
Provenance:
Arnold and Joanne Syrop, New York, ca. 1993 to 2002
Exhibition History:
Caravans of Gold Fragments in Time, Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL, January 26, 2019–July 21, 2019; The Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada, September 21, 2019–February 23, 2020; Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., July 16, 2021 – February 27, 2022
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