Sleeping mat, "Tassalilt"
date: label: Accession Date
content: 15 May 2002
label: Collection Date
content: 1987
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Mary Jo Arnoldi
label: Donor Name
content: Dr. Mary Jo Arnoldi
notes: label: Notes
content: According to the donor/collector, Curator of African Ethnology Mary Jo Arnoldi, this mat was woven by members of a women's cooperative in the Cercle de Menaka, for sale at an exhibit in Bamako in 1987. Tuareg women make and use mats as tent furnishings, or to sell for extra income. They are made from long grass ("afaso") and leather. The designs are inspired by images found in the women's environment or by concepts that are significant in their culture. The name and inspiration for the design of this mat is not known.
label: Notes
content: Mat woven with long, stiff blades of grass and strips of leather. Design arranged in symmetrical horizontal bands of various patterns. The center one has a square-in-diamond design and an hourglass design, made with thick strips of black, green, and purple leather and red cotton. There is also a wide band of herringbone twill in black leather. The final band on each side is a single, very wide (3 cm) leather strip. The long edges are bound with a wide purple leather strip, folded over the edge and sewn down. The short edges are wrapped with a strip of leather, with fringe extending from one edge. No tags.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 28 Nov 2014
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Bamako / Not Given, Bamako / Cercle de Menaka, Mali, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Tuareg, Tamashek
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2023380
label: USNM Number
content: E431602-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Mat
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 123 cm
label: Width
content: 50 cm