H x W x D: 20.3 x 10.2 x 4.4 cm (8 x 4 x 1 3/4 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
Nigeria
Date:
12th-18th century
Label Text:
Manillas were open bracelets in various sizes and weights cast from copper or brass; later they were composed of a mixture of other metals. From the late 15th to the early 20th century, they circulated widely, especially along the West African equatorial coast. Manillas like this one were cast in Birmingham, England, and traded as currency in West Africa. Three types of manillas exist. Pieces of the smaller standard size were often amassed and taken to a blacksmith, who melted them down and reformed into the larger size. The other two types are the so-called queen manillas and the larger specimens, or king manillas, which were considered stored wealth. Some manillas were decorated with incised designs or a second coil of metal twisted around the shank. The quality of the ringing sound and the amount of "flash," or excess metal, extruded at the joints of the mold helped to determine their value. Metalsmiths from the kingdom of Benin, part of present-day Nigeria, melted down imported manillas and recast the metal into works of art.
By 1911 manillas ceased to be legal tender. The "Manilla Currency Ordinance" of 1919 prohibited foreign traders from using them for trade with the local people. Despite these measures, manillas continued to be used side by side with the new money introduced by the West African Currency Board. During the 1940s and 1950s, an extensive campaign was activated to redeem all manillas still in circulation. Nevertheless, some are still found in private households to this day.
Description:
Copper ring forged from a cast ingot into a hexagonal bar. The ends are heavily "upset" or compressed into a button head and then bent into a C shape. There is a dark patina with highlights from wear, and this is the larger of two like objects in this donation.
Provenance:
Tom Joyce, Santa Fe, 1986 to 2002
Content Statement:
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