A Nupe Pair of Bracelets Pair of bracelets Igbo / Nupe, Nigeria Ohne Sockel / without base Copper. H 17 cm. Ø 10 cm. Provenance: - Jean-Louis Rinsoz (1932-1971), Vevey. - Heirs Jean-Louis Rinsoz, French-speaking Switzerland. Inventory numbers "30264" and "30265" (see photos) / Inventory numbers "30264" and "30265" (see photos). ----------------------------------------------------- Jewelry in various forms and materials has always accompanied and fascinated people of all cultures. From a cultural perspective, however, bracelets and anklets, amulets, finger rings and necklaces are much more than just pieces of jewelry. In large parts of Africa, the masterfully crafted jewels are appreciated for their beauty, but the precious ornaments are above all part of religious beliefs. They are therefore testimony to the affiliation, rank and faith of the wearer. Furthermore, healers prescribed the wearing of protective jewelry for recovery or to avert disaster. The treasures were therefore also worn as magical, protective and empowering objects. In addition to local materials such as gold, silver, copper, iron, stone, ivory, shell or resin, popular imported goods (glass, coral, cowrie shells, etc.) were also used to make these valuable unique pieces. Indian stone beads, for example, reached Africa very early on via the trade routes of the Near East. Later, during Murano's heyday between the 16th and 19th centuries, Italian-made glass beads in particular sold like hot cakes. Due to the value of the raw materials used, 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 manillas made of copper alloys as objects of exchange in Africa dates back to at least the 16th century, when the Portuguese established trading stations in West Africa. Over time, these imported goods were repeatedly melted down and cast or forged into new shapes, with other materials, such as iron, increasingly being 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: Glar, Wilfried (2002). African maturity. Attempt at an overview (5 volumes). Self-published. ----------------------------------------------------- Jean-Louis Rinsoz Jean-Louis Rinsoz was born in Vevey in 1932. After completing his schooling, he studied economics at the University of Lausanne (Faculty of Business Administration, HEC) before joining the family business "Rinsoz et Ormond SA" in Vevey, which manufactured tobacco, cigars and cigarettes. Deeply attached to his home region, he was always closely involved in Vevey's social, cultural and industrial activities. In order to diversify the sources of tobacco supply and meet the growing demands of an expanding market, Jean-Louis Rinsoz looked for new production areas. His travels took him first to Maryland (USA) and then, in the mid-1960s, to Côte d'Ivoire. This country was a revelation for him. Everything he was passionate about was there: the nature, the people and their culture! In addition to developing a significant economic partnership with the Ivorian state by setting up several tobacco production centers there, Jean-Louis Rinsoz financed the opening of a number of small schools to provide access to education for the children of this country. He was officially appointed by the Ivorian state as "Honorary Consul of Côte d'Ivoire in Switzerland, based in Vevey" and was even inaugurated as village chief in the Baoulé region. He was equally fascinated by the traditional art of these regions, in its social, aesthetic and religious dimensions. It was in this context that he met the ethnologist and art historian Bohumil Holas, who was then director of the Museum of Civilizations of Côte d'Ivoire in Abidjan. The two men became friends. The confluence of all these factors resulted in the exhibition "Arts de la Côte d'Ivoire. The Treasures of the Abidjan Museum", which was held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Vevey in 1969. Jean-Louis Rinsoz was the chairman of the committee. The moving foreword he wrote for the catalog of this event testifies to his deep attachment to this country. Jean-Louis Rinsoz had applied for Ivorian citizenship. He was never to live to see that day, as he died in a tragic accident in 1971. The African objects from Jean-Louis Rinsoz's personal collection have been in the family's possession ever since and this "treasure from Vevey" will be donated to

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African Ethnograhic Art from Gérald & Muriel MINKOFF, Galerie Walu and others Swiss Private Collections.

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