Sugar hammer

Object Details

Tuareg artist

Label Text

The Tuareg are Berber-speaking peoples who originally lived mainly in the western part of the Sahara Desert and the northern parts of the Western Sudan region. Forced by the drought of 1973-74, groups of Tuareg moved to Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea. Tuareg groups are subdivided into classes of nobles, vassals, freemen and slaves. The Iwellemmeden Kel Ataram or western Iwellemmeden group of Niger and Mali from whom these objects were acquired are counted among the nobility.

Artists who create objects for all Tuareg groups are known collectively as the inadan. Classified as freemen, they travel and live among various Tuareg groups during the year and fashion objects for both ceremonial and daily use. Inadan men are blacksmiths, jewelry makers and woodcarvers; the women are leather workers. Inadan are both feared and respected for their abilities. Other Tuareg believe that the inadan possess a mystical power called ettama, which allows them to inflict harm or ward off evil.

The Tuareg used a hammer of special, often ornate form to break up pieces of sugar which they put in their tea. This elaborate example was cast, hammered, engraved and decorated with silver studs. A ring for hanging the hammer is attached to one end. The engraved patterns on the hammer are motifs drawn from the natural world: cross-hatched patterns represent guinea fowl, and the small circle may symbolize the eye of the chameleon.

Description

Sugar hammer with an elongated handle and an elaborately cast crosspiece that is engraved with ball nails, cross-hatched shapes and circles. A ring is attached to the end of the handle.

Provenance

Private European collection, collected Niger and Mali, 1959-1971 to 1993

Exhibition History

Africa: The Art of a Continent, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, June 5-September 29, 1996

Art from the Forge, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 6, 1995-January 2, 1996

Content Statement

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Credit Line

Museum purchase and gift of Mrs. Florence Selden in memory of Carl L. Selden

Early to mid-20th century

Object number

93-6-14

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Sculpture

Medium

Silver

Dimensions

26.7 x 10.5 x 2.8 cm (10 1/2 x 4 1/8 x 1 1/8 in.)

Geography

Algeria

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

Object Name

tafadist

National Museum of African Art

Topic

male

Record ID

nmafa_93-6-14

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys745419875-a80e-4af7-bab0-9bbb2c2838ce