Object Details
Maker
Wolof artist
Label Text
Bracelets were essential to a woman’s collection, and a simple version was often a Wolof woman’s first acquisition. Like necklaces and earrings, bracelets come in a wide variety of inventive styles, from the braided and twisted designs, which required the female client’s presence to designate the tightness of the twist, to delicate, European-inspired flowers, to Islamic-inspired half-moon bracelets.
Description
Gold-plated silver alloy three-part hinged bracelet with central stylized filigree butterfly and raised floral filigree pendant. The majority of the bracelet is flattened and curved metal, rounded at the hinge ends and decorated with circles of twisted wire in two rows around the edges and nested chevrons of applied, twisted wire with central globules. The bracelet is missing one of the front hinge pins.
Provenance
Marian Johnson, purchased in Dakar, Senegal, 1963-late 20th century 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. 73, illustrated p. 76
Content Statement
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Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Marian Ashby Johnson
Date
Mid-20th century
Object number
2012-18-166
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Jewelry
Medium
Gold-plated silver alloy
Dimensions
H x W x D: 6.6 x 6.6 x 3.1 cm (2 5/8 x 2 5/8 x 1 1/4 in.)
Geography
Senegal
See more items in
National Museum of African Art Collection
Data Source
National Museum of African Art
Topic
Adornment
Female use
butterfly
male
floral
flower
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmafa_2012-18-166