Necklace
Dogon
20th century
Artist Unidentified
Object Place: Mali
Dimensions
Length: 64 cm (25 3/16 in.)
Accession Number
2009.2610
Medium or Technique
metal?
Not On View
Collections
Africa and Oceania, Contemporary Art, Jewelry
Classifications
The social function of jewelry and bodily adornments extends beyond pure decoration. Jewelry can be used a sign of wealth and prestige, a symbol of clan or familial affiliation, or portable currency. This women’s necklace may have bells affixed to it. Bells were thought to communicate with ancestral spirits because the bells could be heard in both the human and spirit world.
Provenance
1983, sold by Galerie Carrefour, Paris, to Geneviève McMillan (b. 1922 - d. 2008), Cambridge, MA; 2008, to the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation, Cambridge; 2009, gift of the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 17, 2009)
Credit Line
Gift of Geneviève McMillan in memory of Reba Stewart