African Gold - Hardcover

Garrard, Timothy F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3791341197 ISBN 13: 9783791341194

Publisher: Prestel, 2011

Generously illustrated, this extraordinary collection of African gold-work is the first detailed study of its kind. This volume catalogs the impressive gold collection held by the Gold of Africa Barbier-Mueller Museum in Cape Town, South Africa. It illustrates and surveys an enormous range of ornamental objects from the Sahel and the central West African forest regions. The pieces date from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and include headdresses, rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and items of royal regalia. Many are decorated with figurative motifs such as birds, fish, and fruit, symbols which refer to local proverbs. Magnificent displays of gold intended as demonstrations of a tribal chief’s power and prestige are still worn today in ceremonial occasions. Through his research in the area Timothy Garrard, the world’s foremost authority on goldsmith art from the African continent, became
acquainted with goldsmith techniques as well as the system of bartering and weighing. His commentary offers a historical and cultural context through which to view the pieces. Affording a starting point for anyone interested in African art, jewelry, decorative arts and fashion, African Gold presents African goldwork
in all its glory.

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From the Inside Flap:

Generously illustrated, this extraordinary collection of African gold-work is the first detailed study of its kind.

About the Author:

TIMOTHY F. GARRARD was a historian, archaeologist and lawyer who lived in Bouake on the Ivory Coast. During his lifetime he published numerous studies on the metal arts of West Africa and served as guest curator at the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva, Switzerland.

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