4127 – African Amulet
- Physical description:
- A complex amulet consisting of a leather charm bag with unknown contents (rather lumpy-looking), a piece of iron shaped like a spike, with a large loop at one end, a small black tusk (?), a large animal tooth with the upper part wrapped in leather, and what is probably another tusk wrapped in leather except for the tip. All attached to a thin ribbon of leather so that they can be worn around a person's neck.
- Museum classification:
- Spells and Charms
- Size:
- 200 x 160 x 50
- Information:
Part of a collection of objects that belonged to an African Magical Practitioner.
The seller associated these objects with the Dogon people of Mali, but magic of this kind is common throughout West Africa. And, indeed, the Museum has a similar charm bag from Sudan, considerably further east than Mali (MWM 1970). (See Toby Green's book 'Meeting the Invisible Man' about his exploration of magic in West Africa.)
The contents of charm bags of this kind (often called a taweez) usually include a prayer or quotation from the Qur'an.
See also MWM 1707 and 2398.
- Resource:
- Object
- Materials:
- Leather, iron, animal teeth / tusks
- Copyright ownership:
- MWM
Part of a collection of objects that belonged to an African Magical Practitioner.
The seller associated these objects with the Dogon people of Mali, but magic of this kind is common throughout West Africa. And, indeed, the Museum has a similar charm bag from Sudan, considerably further east than Mali (MWM 1970). (See Toby Green's book 'Meeting the Invisible Man' about his exploration of magic in West Africa.)
The contents of charm bags of this kind (often called a taweez) usually include a prayer or quotation from the Qur'an.
See also MWM 1707 and 2398.