Manilla
date: label: Date
content: 12th-18th century
name: label: Maker
content: Undetermined artist
notes: label: Label Text
content: Manillas were open bracelets in various sizes and weights cast from copper or brass; later they were composed of a mixture of other metals. From the late 15th to the early 20th century, they circulated widely, especially along the West African equatorial coast. Manillas like this one were cast in Birmingham, England, and traded as currency in West Africa. Three types of manillas exist. Pieces of the smaller standard size were often amassed and taken to a blacksmith, who melted them down and reformed into the larger size. The other two types are the so-called queen manillas and the larger specimens, or king manillas, which were considered stored wealth. Some manillas were decorated with incised designs or a second coil of metal twisted around the shank. The quality of the ringing sound and the amount of "flash," or excess metal, extruded at the joints of the mold helped to determine their value. Metalsmiths from the kingdom of Benin, part of present-day Nigeria, melted down imported manillas and recast the metal into works of art.
label: Label Text
content: By 1911 manillas ceased to be legal tender. The "Manilla Currency Ordinance" of 1919 prohibited foreign traders from using them for trade with the local people. Despite these measures, manillas continued to be used side by side with the new money introduced by the West African Currency Board. During the 1940s and 1950s, an extensive campaign was activated to redeem all manillas still in circulation. Nevertheless, some are still found in private households to this day.
label: Description
content: Copper ring forged from a cast ingot into a hexagonal bar. The ends are heavily "upset" or compressed into a button head and then bent into a C shape. There is a dark patina with highlights from wear, and this is the larger of two like objects in this donation.
label: Provenance
content: Tom Joyce, Santa Fe, 1986 to 2002
label: Content Statement
content: As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
label: Image Requests
content: High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
place: label: Geography
content: Nigeria
topic: label: Topic
content: male
label: Topic
content: Trade
label: Topic
content: Currency
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African Art Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Tom Joyce and museum purchase with funds donated by Carl Jennings
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2002-10-35
objectType: label: Type
content: Sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Copper alloy
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 20.3 x 10.2 x 4.4 cm (8 x 4 x 1 3/4 in.)