protective charm; gris-gris; assesrade; terewt; takarde

Leather amulet, stamped design of lines, criss-cross patterns and punched circles.

Rectangular leather amulet (also known as 'gris-gris', 'assesrade', 'terewt', 'takarde') with leather loops on both short ends. The wide loop can be used to wear the amulet around the neck on a string or cord. The second loop on the opposite side is much narrower and is decorative rather than functional. Amulets such as this are made of two parts - the amulet container, in this case made of leather, and the actual amulet, in this case probably a paper (or papers) with Koranic inscriptions and texts, or magical letters and numbers, prepared by a religious leader or marabout.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
1969.756a
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 83 x 33 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
leather
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
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Collection Information

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