H x W x D: 20.7 x 11.6 x 0.6 cm (8 1/8 x 4 9/16 x 1/4 in.)
L: 43.5 cm (17 1/8 in.)
Type:
Jewelry
Date:
Late 20th century
Description:
Contemporary gold alloy necklace decorated with miniature bells, “crotals,” and textured surface. The central design is two off-center teardrops, one larger than the other, connected with a small flower between them. A small bell-shaped element with several chains that end in beads, as well as several "crotals" in groups of three are attached along the bottom edge of the teardrops. Fine braiding encompasses the teardrops. The rest of the necklace stems from the teardrops in a band of varying types of braids, granules and smaller teardrops, descending in size and terminating to a chain that fastens in a hook-and-eye closure at the back.
Provenance:
Marian Johnson, purchased in Senegal, 2010 to 2012
Exhibition History:
Good As Gold: Fashioning Senegalese Women, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 24, 2018-February 2, 2020; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, September 16, 2020-January 3, 2021
Published References:
Maples, Amanda, Ashby Johnson, Marian, and Dumouchelle, Kevin D., 2018, Good As Gold, Washington, D.C.: NMAfA, Smithsonian, p. 88, illustrated p. 89
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