Antique Tuareg Manilla Currency/Slave Bracelet, North/West Africa (3156JCE) $195

Description

Tuareg traditional herders were nomadic tribal peoples who traversed an area the size of Western Europe in the Sahel region and the Sahara Desert and in the North African countries of Mali, Niger, Libya, Algeria, Chad and West African Burkina Faso. Called the “Blue Men of the Desert”, they are famous for their blue skin from the indigo-dyed garments they wear for protection from desert sun and wind. Followers of Islam, they are prohibited from creating figures or masks and use their artistic talents to create exceptional functional metalwork, wood and leather objects embellished with abstract geometric designs including circular and horseshoe shape bracelets with decorated ends. Their unique bracelets and anklets were not daily wear but were used to display personal wealth and status, used as currency for livestock, doweries and other items, worn on ritual events and celebrations and were a way to easily carry and transport their wealth. During the colonization of Africa in the 1500s by Europeans imported their own factory made bracelets, called them manillas which became slave trade currency referred to as slave bracelets and slave trade money to purchase slaves for plantations in the Americas. Manillas are still worn by slave descendants in the Caribbean as family treasures to pass on to future generations.

Click here for the Blog Manillas: Former African Trade Currency.

Sources

Helen E. Hagan and Lucile Meyers, Tuareg Jewelry: Traditional Patterns and Symbols, Xlibrus Corporation, 2006.

African Jewelry, African Slave Trade Bracelets/Manilla, North Africa, Saharan Africa, Tuareg, West Africa