Jewelry

Hanuman stamped in silver, a cross carried against harm. Antique and tribal jewelry comes from India, Ethiopia, Indonesia, China, Italy, Mali, Afghanistan, Nepal, Tibet and the American Southwest. Indian plaque amulets are stamped with Hanuman, Kali, Devi and the feet of Vishnu; Ethiopian Coptic crosses and Ge’ez prayer scrolls served as amulets. Eye agate beads, Tuareg silver, the cast bronze bracelets of the Gan and Lobi of Burkina Faso, Fulani gold, Naga and Konyak brass from the hills of Nagaland, Miao silver from Guizhou, Navajo silver and turquoise, Berber and Bedouin silver, Roman glass beads and Byzantine coin weights fill out the map.

Silver, brass, gold, agate and glass are the working materials, and much of it was made to protect, to mark rank or to carry wealth on the body. Gan bracelets coiled with the python, family guardian, also served as currency. Off the body, old beads or a heavy cuff on a limestone table read as small sculpture.