Antique Fulani Manilla Currency/Slave Trade Bracelet, West Africa (3146)

Description

The Fulani are the most numerous nomadic people on earth and one of the largest ethnic groups in West-Africa. Mostly Muslim and primarily nomads and sedentary farmers, for centuries they created African metalwork and jewelry in the form of arm and ankle bracelets. They were symbols of wealth and status, fashion adornments for birth, coming of age, marriage and burial ceremonies, used to trade and barter for animals and domestic and agricultural goods and were a easily hidden and east to travel medium of exchange, as there were no banks or conventional money exchange systems. Since the Fulani were numerous, their bracelets were found throughout West Africa. This antique rounded Fulani manilla found in Nigeria has a smooth central surface with etched decorative and geometric designs at the ends and also has multi-lined horizontals, rows of stippled verticals, small etched circles with tiny ones inside, alternating side by side triangles and stacked double circles at its apex. It is in very good condition with minor scratches, cracks and bruising on the inside consistent with its extensive age and use. During Africa’s colonization in the 1500s, the British, French and Dutch appropriated African bracelets and manufactured their own versions and called them manillas. Once a beautiful indigenous African metalwork adornment and currency made for and by Africans, manillas became the currency of the slave trade to the Americas and used to purchase slaves to work on plantations in the Americas. Finally prohibited for use by foreign traders under the Manilla Currency Ordinance of 1919, they were confiscated and melted down for other purposes in the 1940s.