Bracelet

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.

Though this bracelet is inspired by the Islamic half moon motif, it has no direct religious affiliation but was likely chosen for its monumental qualities and three-part composition. Granulation, applying tiny balls of metal to metal sheets, filigree, a delicate jewelry technique that incorporates finely curving metal wires in a frame, and twisted wire techniques can all be observed in this piece.

Two-piece hinged gold-plated silver alloy bracelet in the shape of a hollow central crescent or half moon (Islamic) pendant flanked by projecting filigree half domes in the shape of a flower and smaller tiered domes crested with globules. The central pendant is decorated with wire and twisted wire swirls, X shape pendants and around the edges with globules and twisted wire. The rest of the bracelet is flattened metal with applied decorative elements, including four large and several smaller spirals, twisted wire swirls and raised X shape pendants at the back and sides. Inside of the bracelet is secured on either side of the central pendant by four metal bars and e front half of the bracelet is pierced with large holes in several places, probably for ventilation during construction. Hinge pin closure, but hinge pin is missing.

Marian Johnson, purchased in Dakar, Senegal, 1963-late 20th century to 2012

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

African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2013–August 12, 2019 (installed June 12, 2015-August 1, 2017)

Maples, Amanda, Ashby Johnson, Marian, and Dumouchelle, Kevin D., 2018, Good As Gold, Washington, D.C.: NMAfA, Smithsonian, p. 55, 73, 87 illustrated p. 56, p. 77

As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.

High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/