Bracelet

Object Details

Tukulor artist

Label Text

This bracelet style, popular in the 1920s, was inspired by Roman gladiators’ wristbands. This particular cuff, however, was made in the 1940s or ’50s, when the style resurfaced in support of Lamine Guèye, a politician who supported women’s suffrage. He was, therefore, extremely popular among Senegalese ladies—a gladiator who fought for the rights of women.

Description

Gold alloy (possibly wash on copper; gold content could be very low) wrist-guard bracelet composed of two large convex trapezoidal panels and two rectangular panels and chain link mesh with applied vertical rows of rosettes. The panels are composed of filigree and flattened applied diamonds, discs, almond shapes and S curves. The two back panels are similar, but flat instead of convex, and rectangular instead of trapezoidal. An extra vertical bar may or may not belong to this bracelet. Hinge pin closure.

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

Content Statement

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Credit Line

Gift of Dr. Marian Ashby Johnson

Mid-20th century

Object number

2012-18-189

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Jewelry

Medium

Gold-plated silver alloy

Dimensions

Open, laying flat: 8.6 x 1.1 x 20.5 cm (3 3/8 x 7/16 x 8 1/16 in.)

Geography

Senegal

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

Object Name

balmarque de Lamine Gueye

National Museum of African Art

Topic

Adornment

Female use

crescent

male

Record ID

nmafa_2012-18-189

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7a27b0ebe-d8ac-4d08-a94d-8e5255fded56