H x W x D: 61 x 9.4 x 2.3cm (24 x 3 11/16 x 7/8in.)
Type:
Textile and Fiber Arts
Geography:
Morocco
Mauritania
Date:
Early 20th century
Label Text:
Commonly used for individual meditation, these wood prayer beads are embellished with intricate patterns of inlaid silver wire, a technique usually reserved for fine jewelry. Indeed, in this region of North Africa, griots (professional singers and storytellers) wear such beads with single or double tassels as jewelry. Semiprecious stones and glass beads provide colorful accents, as does the silk tassel at the end.
Description:
Prayer beads composed of a single strand of wood beads with silver alloy inlay accented by five sections of colorful stone and glass beads (three in each section). A colorful silk tassel knotted toward the top and loose at the bottom is attached to the terminal beads.
Provenance:
Ivo Grammet, acquired from a Moorish jeweler in Marrakech ca. 1992-1993 to 2003
Exhibition History:
African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2013–August 12, 2019 (deinstalled April 11, 2016)
African Mosaic: Celebrating a Decade of Collecting, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2010-November 13, 2013
Content Statement:
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