Fancy Festival Pendant

$340.00

Artist: Koumama Family

Region / Country: Africa / Niger

This fine (99%) silver ornately hand engraved festival piece has a hinge above a rectangular center so it will lie flat. A semi-circle of black onyx finished the bottom. The pendant is 1 3/4 inches at the widest part and 2 3/4 inches from the top of the pendant to the bottom of the circle. It is attached to a 17-18 inch black leather cord with a silver loop behind the top recetangle. The leather cord has a silver clasp. (SKU: TJ-2004)

Artist: Koumama Family

Region: Africa

Country: Niger

The Koumama family is Tuareg which traditionally has been semi-nomadic. Some call Tuaregs the "Blue People" due to the indigo used to dye men's deep blue tagelmusts (turbans). Most Tuaregs live in northern Niger with some living in Mali and Algeria. Today the ancient Tuareg classes, Nobles (camel herders), Vassals (goat herders), Inadan (blacksmiths) and slaves (now outlawed) still exist. However, following the famines of the 1970s and 1980s and civil unrest, many have been forced to abandon their herds and take on labor and lifestyles they might traditionally have rejected.