Straw necklace
date: label: Accession Date
content: 24 Nov 2000
label: Collection Date
content: 1965
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Labelle Prussin
label: Donor Name
content: Dr. Labelle Prussin
notes: label: Notes
content: Pendant made of wood, covered completely in gold-colored straw. Straw and cord arranged to make patterns on front, with round bead in the center. Attached to a “chain” made of straw to make necklace.
label: Notes
content: Donor's notes say this was made by Songhay women at Timbuktu, where she purchased it in the market in 1965. She says it simulates traditional designs in gold made by the Songhay dyam goldsmiths in Senegal. Mary Jo Arnoldi, Curator of African Ethnology, says that straw jewelry such as this were common in the 1960s and 1970s in Senegal, Guinea, and Mali, but it is much rarer today with only a handful of women in Timbucktu still producing this type of jewelry in 2006. They are "poor man's gold", meaning an imitation of traditional gold jewelry. References: Lhote, Henri. 1946. "Bijoux en paille de Tombouktou." Notes Africaines. 33:4 8; Gabus, Jean. 1965. Au Sahara.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 20 Jan 2015
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Timbuktu, Mali, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Songhay
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 420734
label: USNM Number
content: E431619-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Necklace
physicalDescription: label: Total Length
content: 31 cm
label: Width - Amulet
content: 6 cm
label: Length - Amulet
content: 4 cm