TERA Gallery - African Art and Antiquities

"Altering The Way You View The World Of Art"
Type of Object:     
    Money Tree Currency

    These metal forms were made to hold a set number of coins,
    usually British West African, to make an object of tradeable value.  
    This form was recognized and used as currency and could be
    broken up for smaller transactions.   The back has the same
    number of coins as the front on each "tree".  There are 56 coins on
    this piece.  They are half-penny coins from British West Africa and
    date from the 30's & 40's up to 1950.

    This is a Nigerian adaptation with British colonial coinage of a
    Chinese type of good luck and wealth talisman traditionally hung
    over the doorway of a new house. The half-penny perforated coins,
    struck during the reigns of King Edward VIII and George V,
    respectively, and mostly dated between 1911 and 1947, are sewn
    (original thread disintegrated and replaced) onto both sides of a
    short wrought iron ““sword ““ with double-curve handle.

Ethnic Group:             
    Yoruba

Country of Origin:      
    Nigeria    

Material:                       

Deminsions:

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