Details
ITEM NAME:
Coil Bracelet
ITEM #:
5599
ETHNICITY:
Igbo
ORIGIN:
Nigeria
MEDIUM:
Copper Alloy.
DIMENSIONS:
3.25″ (8.25 cm) Diameter.
CONDITION:
Good.
PROVENANCE:
Ex Jean Pierre Hallet Collection – California, USA.
CATALOGUE NOTE:
The Portugese explorers started trading with the Igbo people of Southern Nigeria in the late 1400s for animal products and pepper, but in later trading also started trading for humans. In their barter, the Portuguese traded goods with copper. One of the uses the Igbo had for the copper they received in their trades was to create coils from the copper rods to use as a means of trade between themselves. The Igbo coil bracelets varied in length by the number of coils, thus varying the value of the Igbo coil.
