铜制包，饰有钱币贝壳和珠饰流苏 - Kirdi bag - Kirdi - Cameroon

Cast bronze bag with cowrie shells and bead fringe – Kirdi type, Northern Cameroon / North-eastern Nigeria

An African bronze (copper-alloy) bag of oval, pouch-like form with a lid at the top, cast using the traditional lost-wax technique. The front is decorated in relief with spiral and concentric-circle motifs and framed by incised geometric bands with hatched and cross-hatched patterns. Along the lower edge, a row of cast metal rings carries a fringe of cowrie shells and long strands of light and dark beads, which give the piece its characteristic radiating silhouette.

Attribution:
Brass and bronze bags and purses of this type are associated with the so-called "Kirdi" peoples – a collective name for the various non-Muslim groups of northern Cameroon, north-eastern Nigeria (Adamawa region) and southern Chad. Comparable examples are held in museum collections, for instance the National Museum Lagos (oval brass bags with lid, incised geometric decoration and fringes of beads and cowries, from Adamawa State, Nigeria) and the University of Michigan Museum of Art (brass purses from northern Cameroon / north-eastern Nigeria, dated c. 1890–1920). Such bags were used to keep and carry valuables and also served as prestige and ceremonial objects; cowrie shells, historically used as currency, were a widespread symbol of wealth and status. The exact age of this example is not documented.

Details:
Object: bag / purse with lid
Materials: cast bronze (copper alloy), cowrie shells, beads, fibre string, wire
Technique: lost-wax casting
Region: Northern Cameroon / North-eastern Nigeria
Dimensions: approx. 17 x 17 x 3 cm (H x W x D)
Weight: approx. 1070 g

Condition:
Good condition with age-related wear, signs of handling and a natural darkened patina with traces of green verdigris. Please note: on the reverse, near the base, there is an old repair – an inserted metal patch with a small adjacent crack – as well as casting porosity and a small loss at the upper edge. A hairline crack is visible on the rim of the opening under the lid. The black hanging cord is a later replacement and some bead strands may have been restrung over time. All details are shown in the photos.

Provenance: private collection.