Minneapolis Institute of Art

Bracelet with animal ornament and coin pendants

Fon artist

Date

late 19th century

Medium

Silver

Culture

Fon

Department

Arts of Global Africa

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

More than one hundred years ago, the elite of the Danhomé Kingdom in West Africa would have worn these silver ornaments to adorn themselves and show off their wealth, and also to protect themselves from harm and evil. Fashioned by jewelers from imported silver coins, the ornaments were embellished with tiny sculptures that refer to past kings, heroic wars, and the Vodun religion. The coins attached to the ornaments date from between 1873 and 1910, bridging the last decades of the independent Kingdom and the first 15 years of French colonial rule. Fon, Benin

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