Preview
Medium
Silver
Dimensions
3 1/2 x 2 1/4 x 1/4 in. (8.89 x 5.72 x .64 cm)
.519 oz. (14.7 g)
Credit Line
Bequest of David P. Harris ('46), 2020
Accession Number
2020.16
Provenance
Purchased by David P. Harris ('46) from the United Nations Gift Center in New York City on February 20, 1977.
References
Brad Hostetler, with Ani Parnagian, "From Private to Public: The Collection of David P. Harris," in Ethiopian Objects in the Blick-Harris Study Collection: Art, Context, and the Persistence of Form, eds. Brad Hostetler, and Lynn Jones, Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art & Architecture 8, no. 1 (Spring 2022): 5–25. https://digital.kenyon.edu/perejournal/vol8/iss1/1/
Description
These crosses (perhaps not influenced by Christianity) are produced by a Enaden, Blacksmiths who craft adornments of the Taureg -- nomadic stock breeders who live in a large area extending through the western Sahara and the northwestern part of Sudan.
The cross of Agadez is worn by both male and female Taureg, being the one piece of jewelry that is never removed from the body. Originally, it may have been worn exclusively by men, being given from father to son at puberty. It displays the phallic shape, the pommel of the camel saddle, and the four cardinal directions. Today it is one of the silver ornaments which a Taureg groom is required to give his new wife. (One or more of the crosses areworn by women on a leather strap around the neck or as part of a fancy hair arrangement.
Source: Nancy R. Michaelson, "Taureg Jewelry," African Arts, IX, 2 (January 1976)
Purchase Receipt and Supporting Documents