TERA Gallery - African Art and Antiquities

"Altering The Way You View The World Of Art"
Type of Object:     
    Mumuy Tagere Currency
    18 c.

    These  forms, "tajere", pointed bars with globular mid-sections
    were recognized and used as currency for rare but major
    transactions throughout the different Nigerian districts, the shape
    being one of the the few ways to distinguish origin since trade was
    so widespread.  

    These miscellaneously named "losol," "sasoreng," "tajere," or
    "saka." Made by Batta and Mumuye peoples, who were subject to
    the Fulani, northeastern.   Iron currency rods were widely used
    throughout the different Nigerian districts, the shape being one of
    the few ways to distinguish origin since trade was so widespread.
    The distinctive shape of the flat, expanded middle and slightly
    twisted ends clearly indicate this as a piece of the Mumuye tribe
    where they were carefully forged. The Fulani called these pieces
    "losol" in the east and "tajere" or "taji" (plural) in the west, as did
    the Batta and Mumuye to the south; today most people simply
    refer to these old pieces as "Mumuye" currency. These rods were
    ultimately used for making hoes or other implements, but they
    were widely used for currency by both the non-Moslem tribes and
    in the Muslim markets where the pagan tribes traded.

Ethnic Group:             
    Mumuye Society, Yoruba Society
    Batta Society

Country of Origin:      
    Nigeria, Cameroon
        
Material:          
    Iron             

Deminsions:

Reference:
    Quiggin, Alison Hingston.  A SURVEY OF PRIMITIVE MONEY:
    THE BEGINNINGS OF CURRENCY. Reprint. London: Spink &
    Son, 1978. p87,plate1

    WESTERDIJK, H. Izerwerk van Centraal- Afrika. (Ironwork of
    Central Africa) Rotterdam 1975. 154pp., 15b/w, 650 line, 3 maps.
    Text: Dutch p134#E,F

    Roberto Ballarini, Ferrie Monete dell' Africa Equatoriale, Galleria
    Africa Curio-Milano 1998. Pgs 37. p2
 
    Roberto Ballarini, Armi Bianche Dell'Africa Nera (Black Africa's
    Traditional Arms), Africa Curio, Milano 1992.Pgs 128 p25#8
 
    Eyo, Ekpo.  NIGERIA AND THE EVOLUTION OF MONEY.  
    Lagos: Central Bank of Nigeria, 1979. p52
 
    Tom Joyce, Univ. of NC exhibition. Life Force at the Anvil, The
    Blacksmith's Art from Africa. Exhibition May - August 1998. Pgs
    32 p22 figure 34