As Africa is rich in natural metals, it has a long and rich tradition of metalwork and metal items were historically a source of wealth, status, currency, and the basis for trade, As summarized on the University of Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum website, “There is enormous variety in African metalworking, in terms of the metals used, the techniques employed, and the objects produced. Historically, the metals used most in Sub-Saharan Africa were iron, copper, bronze (alloy of copper and tin), brass (alloy of copper and zinc), and gold. Metal has been used to produce objects for almost all areas of life, including trade, warfare, agriculture, worship, ritual, and body ornamentation. In West Africa from the fourteenth century, copper bracelets were used as currency. After the arrival of Portuguese and other European traders, great numbers of these manillas (the Portuguese word for bracelet) were produced in Europe to trade in west Africa (as part of the slave trade) …. a copper manilla made in Birmingham for trade to Africa…. was produced to be exchanged with Igbo people in Nigeria for palm oil and ivory…The copper from these manillas brought to Africa from Europe was often melted down and remade into other metal objects.” In Ethiopia coin silver was melted to make Ethiopian crosses. African metalware objects on the VA site include a Congo iron gong, manillas, and Ethiopian Crosses made from coin-silver.
Showing 13–24 of 34 results
The term Coptic Cross refers to several variants in Christian art associated with the Coptic Orthodox Church in Africa. Coptic crosses from the Orthodox Church of Alexandria were a foundation for Ethiopian Cross design and symbolism. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church historically assimilated pre-Christian symbols and imparted its own meanings to them. A Christian cross with…
Each Coptic cross is one of several variants of a Christian cross associated with the Coptic Orthodox Church in Africa. African metalwork crosses of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria were a foundation for Ethiopian Cross designs and symbolism. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church historically assimilated into their art pre-Christian cross symbols and imparted its own…
No other region has produced the quantity, quality and diversity of the crosses from the Africa Ethiopian Highlands, the second nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion. Ethiopian crosses were made in a variety of sizes, designs, styles and ornamentation which are metaphors for the religious beliefs, ideology and practices of the Ethiopian Church…
No other region has produced the quantity, quality, and diversity as the Christian cross from the Ethiopian Highlands in Africa, an area renowned for having accepted Christianity early in its history and its fine African art and metalwork. This Coptic Cross pendant features two stylized birds under the top circular portion artistically and spiritually transform…
This Ethiopian cross displays the distinctive tri-partite design features of Coptic crosses with its rounded horizontal arms and bottom that symbolize the significance of the Trinity in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Made in the Ethiopian Highlands, the top section contains a portion of a circle. In Coptic beliefs, circles symbolize eternity, Christ’s halo, and the…
This early 20th century Ethiopian cross pendant from the Ethiopian Highlands in Africa is a Coptic cross variant often referred to as an Axum cross where it was crafted using the lost wax technique with melted coin-silver and an attached suspension loop. The circle on the horizontal bar is a variant of older Coptic prototypes…
No other region has produced the quantity, quality and diversity as the Christian crosses from the Ethiopian Highlands in Africa, an area renowned for its unique African art and metalwork. The uniqueness of Ethiopian Crosses reflects influences of many ancient civilizations: Coptic, Celtic, Egyptian, Byzantine, Greek, and Roman. Ethiopia was the second country to make…
No other region has produced the quantity, quality, and diversity as the Christian crosses from the Africa Ethiopian-Highlands an area renowned for its unique African art and metalwork The uniqueness of these Crosses reflects influences of many ancient civilizations: Coptic, Celtic, Egyptian, Byzantine, Greek, and Roman. Ethiopia was the second country to make Christianity its…
No other region has produced the quantity, quality and diversity as the crosses from the Africa Ethiopian-Highlands, an area renowned for its unique African-art and African-metalwork. Their uniqueness of reflects influences of many ancient civilizations: Coptic, Celtic, Egyptian, Byzantine, Greek, and Roman. Ethiopia was the second country to make Christianity its official religion but remained…
No other region has produced the quantity, quality, and diversity as the crosses from the Africa Ethiopian-Highlands, the second nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion. The uniqueness of the Ethiopian Cross stems from influences of many ancient civilizations: Coptic, Celtic, Egyptian, Byzantine and Greek. Ethiopian pendant crosses were made in a variety of…
No region has produced the quantity, quality and diversity as the crosses coming from the Ethiopian-highlands in Africa. The uniqueness of the Ethiopian-Cross stems from influences of many ancient civilizations: Coptic, Celtic, Egyptian, Byzantine and Greek. Ethiopia was the second country after Armenia to adopt Christianity as its official religion, but it remained isolated and…
Numbering over 20 million people, the Yoruba are one of the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria and are also scattered in Benin and Togo. They are among the most skilled and productive craftsmen in Africa. Historically, copper bracelets were produced, worn, and used as currency in the Coastal regions of Nigeria, used for marketing,…
End of content
End of content