African jewelry making has evolved to reflect the uniqueness of each individual region in Africa. For Africans, jewelry means much more than personal adornment and self-expression and each piece is worn for a specific reason including as an identifying mark of a society or group. Despite the differences, there are also many similarities between the group’s jewelry making and wearing habits such as religion, trade and/or bartering purposes, dowry, or to protect against evil spirits. In all regions, jewelry is worn by girls and boys, women and men.
The climate of Africa and its various regions also play a significant role in the jewelry each produces. While jewelry produced in the dry environment of the Sahara Desert is comprised mainly of animal skins and from trade with other areas due to the lack of other materials available in this inhospitable environment, the Savannah region uses a great deal of brass and copper because it lies in the heart of the trade routes between north and west Africa. The kingdom of Benin is located in the equatorial rain forest region and its people have become wealthy through trade. In the beginning of the 15th Century, gold and ivory were traded for glass beads, copper, brass, and coral.
Jewelry from the Sahara Desert Region
The infertile Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world. Extreme heat in the daytime gives way to freezing temperatures at night. Just two of the groups of creative people who live here are the Tuareg and the Moors, descendants of the Berbers. Each group produces jewelry that is representative of their way of life and highly religious beliefs. For example, the Tuareg are a fiercely independent group who have held on to their traditional Berber ways and the bold and simplistic design of Berber jewelry. Tuareg jewelry is characteristically symmetrical and geometric. The Tuareg only wear silver because it is the metal of the prophet and Tuareg silver jewelry has become a very popular collectible. Gold is considered the ‘work of the devil” and therefore considered extremely bad luck. The Tuareg use their jewelry for trade in exchange for food and cloth and exchange rings between men and women as a sign of affection.
The Moors, on the other hand, have intermarried with people from the west Savannah and later the Arabs, who consider jewelry capital and use it for trade. The Cure Salee is an annual festival specifically for jewelry trading purposes. Girls wrap their hair and ankles in brass. The anklets are called jabo and are worn to attract young men. The Moorish girl only removes the jabo upon the birth of her first child. The women of the Sahara also wear Carnelian necklaces and Venetian glass which are believed to help cure sicknesses of the blood. The Moorish women wear glass and also shell hair ornaments which are valued for their association with protection and fertility.
Whether you collect African jewelry from these three regions or others throughout Africa, one thing all African jewelry has in common is its magnificent beauty which is characterized by attention to detail, innovative design, and lots of bold exciting color. Surely every African jewelry collection is a treasured source of enjoyment and inspiration, both when worn for personal adornment or on display in one’s home.
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Article Reference: The History and Aesthetics of African Jewelry
by Lucille Camera
