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Bangle
unknown - Enlarge image
Bangle
- Place of origin:
Zanzibar, Tanzania (made)
- Date:
19th century (made)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Silver, with filigree decoration and bosses of cast work
- Museum number:
276-1903
- Gallery location:
In Storage
Throughout history the Zanzibar archipelago has served as a staging post for Indian Ocean traders and explorers. In 1698 it became part of the overseas holdings of Oman and a sultanate of Omani origin established its capital there in the mid 19th century. This distinctive history has had a marked impact on Zanzibari arts and culture which reveal Persian, Arab, Indian, Portuguese, British and African influences.
This hinged silver bracelet is decorated with rows of conical bosses of different sizes and bands of filigree work. A label on the bracelet notes that it was 'made by the natives at Zanzibar by order of the late Sultan, and brought to England by his friend the late Monsieur J.B. Camosin'. The Sultan may have been Hamoud bin Mohammed (1853-1902). Zanzibar became a British protectorate in 1890. Hamoud had close ties with Britain: he was decorated by Queen Victoria for his role in ending Zanzibar's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and his son and heir, Ali bin Hamud, was educated in England.
