Artwork Page for Anklet

Details / Information for Anklet

Anklet

before 1927

Africa, West Africa, Liberia, Dan-style blacksmith

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Medium
Copper alloy
Measurements
Overall: 14.1 x 11.7 cm (5 9/16 x 4 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Willett Rankin Wilson, in memory of Audley R. and Edna Moore Wilson 1982.341.2
Copyright
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
108A African
Print
?

Did You Know?

From 1822–1847, the American Colonization Society colonized what became Liberia. Americo-Liberians (Congau) ruled until 1980. However, blacksmiths generally sourced brass for jewelry-making from kettles or bullets brought by nearby French colonials from the 1890s onwards.

Description

Copper alloy bracelets and anklets historically signified a woman’s married status. They were bonded to her in life and removed following death. A blacksmith cast these heavy adornments. Given their weight, their owner couldn’t do domestic or farm work, showing others her privilege as a member of the elite leisure class. Slowed by this jewelry, her movements sent bells jingling in the hollow balls. Following a 1930s economic collapse, women stopped wearing the bracelets to take part in manual labor. At the same time, a national decree outlawed them; many were melted down.
A copper alloy anklet features an open hoop from which nine large, dome-shaped elements extend. Each dome is textured with concentric spiraled ridges meeting at a point. Smaller flat spirals line the main band between these forms. The metal, with a muted brownish-gold color, appears as a surface of coiled wire. The two ends of the band terminate in flat, circular stubs on either side of a central gap.

Anklet

before 1927

Africa, West Africa, Liberia, Dan-style blacksmith

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