Catalog Number
|
Catalog Number |
CAS 0280-0031 | |
| Category | Bead & Leatherwork; Jewelry & Metalwork | |
| Object Name | Earring / headband | |
| Culture | Maasai | |
| Global Region | Sub-Saharan Africa | |
| Country | Kenya or Tanzania | |
| State/Prov./Dist. | ||
| County | ||
| Other Geographic Data | ||
| Maker's Name | Unknown | |
| Date of Manufacture | ca. mid-1900s | |
| Collection Name | N/A | |
| Materials | Metal wire; Glass and plastic beads; Aluminum | |
| Description | Earring / headband comprising double wire strands of small beads, arranged by color (red, white, blue, and green) in segments, with additional red, white, and blue beads between colored segments and two spacer bars between segments to keep the two strands parallel to each other; Four short strands of larger barrel shaped beads (yellow, red, green, orange, and black) are pendant from the double strands, each terminating in a tin crescent suspended from a silver metal link chain; Three of the pendants are suspended from the first beaded segment nearest to the clasped end of the earring, while the fourth one is located at the earring’s mid-point; Wire that forms the earring’s framework is bent at each end to form a hook and eye clasp. Original accession list identifies this as an earring made for the tourist trade, but its design and hook and eye clasp suggests that would have been worn around the head, perhaps with the single pendant hanging on the wearer’s forehead in the tradition of other Maasai headbands, and the triple pendants hanging by the ear. | |
| Dimensions (cm) | Width = ca. 18.0, Thickness = 0.5, Length = ca. 28.0 | |