Additional information: This metal piece comes from the Tuareg. Such objects are created by blacksmiths (Inadan). The piece was probably used as a key by Tuareg women of high rank. It was also used as a symbol of status and wealth. Andrea Nicolls (in Selected Works From The Collection of The National Museum of African Art Smithsonian Vol 1, 1999: p. 25) from whom we got this information indicates that this key served to open a storage box in which the noblewoman kept her valuable items including her dowry. She also attached it to a corner of the veil she wore over her head as a weight to keep the veil in place.  The nomadic Tuareg people of the Sahel and surrounding areas have a long history of silversmithing. Tuareg artists are now taking traditional silver jewelry designs and adapting them to create elegant new pieces. The Tuareg  are tall, and a Tuareg woman can pack an entire household on a camel in two hours. Their skin is blue-black, from the indigo rubbed into cloths wrapped around their faces to keep out the desert sun and sand. See a similar example in Selected Works From The Collection of The National Museum of African Art Smithsonian Vol 1, fig 8. (right),  p. 25, 1999 Further Reading: Thomas K. Seligman, ART OF BEING TUAREG. Sahara Nomads in A Modern World, Exhibition, Cantor Arts Center and UCLA Fowler, 2006- see Exhibition preview in African Arts, Volume XXXIX, N0 3, Autumn 2006, pp.56-79.

• Type of Object: Key, pendant, or veil weight
• Materials: Copper alloy, brass. (Unknown metal content).
• Made In: Mali and Traded In: Mali
• Dimensions: Height: 11 InchesWidth: 2.5 Inches

Type of Object: Key, pendant, or veil weightAfrica Direct