H x W x D: 14.3 x 34.0 x 33.8 cm (5 5/8 x 13 3/8 x 13 5/16 in.)
Type:
Jewelry
Geography:
Nigeria
Date:
Early 20th century
Label Text:
With some regional variations, Igbo girls and married women wore such pieces before 1920, cylindrical forms with spectacular flanges, as in this example. The anklets' material and size indicate great prestige, wealth and the exemption from physical labor. Although the meaning of the punch designs is not known, the pattern is consistent with the symbolic patterns used in body painting during women's initiations and other ceremonies. The anklets may also be worn by male masked dancers portraying young women.
Description:
Large flat disc of brass pierced by a cylinder with punch and engraved designs. Cylinder is lined with iron.
Provenance:
Arnold Newman, New York, -- to 1975
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 July 8, 2019)
African Mosaic: Celebrating a Decade of Collecting, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2010-November 19, 2013
TxtStyles: Fashioning Identity, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 11-December 7, 2008
BIG/small, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 17-July 23, 2006
Y'a Nene: The Aesthetics of 'Sweetness' in African Art, Bayly Art Museum, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, January 16-March 28, 1999
History, Context, Materials: Selections from the Permanent Collection of the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 12, 1985-January 5, 1986
Patterns and Forms, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., August 20-September 16, 1984
African Emblems of Status, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 29, 1982-April 3, 1983
Published References:
Park, Edwards. 1983. Treasures of the Smithsonian. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, p. 387.
Robbins, Warren M. and Nancy Ingram Nooter. 1989. African Art in American Collections. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, p. 128, nos. 214-215.
National Museum of African Art. 2008. TxtStyles/Fashioning Identity: Activity Guide. Exhibition booklet. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Content Statement:
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