A Baule Necklace

Collier Baule, Côte d'Ivoire Ohne Sockel / without base Yellow cast iron, glass beads. L 78,5 cm. Provenance: Helmut (1931-2021) and Marianne Zimmer, Zurich. Jewelry in various forms and materials has always accompanied and fascinated people of all cultures. From a cultural point of view, bangles, anklets, amulets, finger rings and necklaces are much more than just pieces of jewelry. In large parts of Africa, the masterfully crafted precious objects are appreciated for their beauty, but the valuable ornaments are above all also part of religious beliefs. They are therefore testimonies to the affiliation, rank and faith of the wearer. Furthermore, healers prescribed the wearing of protective jewelry for recovery or to avert disaster. The precious items were thus also worn as magical, protective and power-giving objects. For the production of the valuable unique pieces, besides local materials, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, stone, ivory, shell or resin, popular imported goods were also used (glass, coral, cowries, etc.). Indian stone beads, for example, had reached Africa very early through the trade routes of the Near East. Later, during Murano's heyday between the 16th and 19th centuries, glass beads of Italian manufacture in particular found a ready market. Due to the value of the processed raw materials, the jewelry was also a store of value, and was also used as a means of exchange and payment. These pre-coinage means of payment (so-called primitive money) in standardized forms were traded over long distances. The use of imported copper alloy manillas as barter items dates back in Africa to at least the 16th century, when the Portuguese established trading posts in West Africa. Over time, these imported goods were repeatedly melted down and cast or forged into new shapes, and other materials, such as iron, were increasingly traded in the same way. At the beginning of the 20th century, most colonial powers banned these forms of money as a means of payment in order to establish their own currencies. Further reading: Borel, France (1999). Jewelry. Treasures from Africa, Asia, Oceania and America. From the Ghysels Collection. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz. CHF 100 / 200 EUR 100 / 200