H x W x D: 4.4 x 3.5 x 1.3 cm (1 3/4 x 1 3/8 x 1/2 in.)
Type:
Jewelry
Geography:
Ethiopia
Date:
19th to mid-20th century
Label Text:
Silver pendant crosses are worn in Ethiopia as professions of the Christian faith, a tradition begun in the 15th century with crosses of wood and other metals. The Maria Theresa thaler, an 18th-century Austrian coin popular in Africa in the 19th century, was often melted down and transformed into silver pendant crosses.
Description:
Silver pendant in the form of a cross-in-a-circle with a projection to a suspension loop. Seven extensions punctuate outer edges of the circle and pendant has incised geometric and crescent designs.
Provenance:
Mr. and Mrs. Donald F. Miller, Alexandria, Virginia, acquired Addis Ababa, 1971
Published References:
Robbins, Warren M. and Nancy Ingram Nooter. 1989. African Art in American Collections. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, p. 510, no. 1330.
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