Object Details
- Label Text
- Tuareg women use knives with dull edges to untangle their hair. Smiths layer silver, copper, black wood and other materials to create the decorative effect of contrasting colors on the handles. Analysis by Smithsonian conservators revealed that the layers include a type of plastic, urea formaldehyde, commonly known as linoleum. The smith places disks of the different materials on top of one another on a forged steel pin or spike, hammers the layers together and shapes the handle with a file. This "sandwich" technique originated in Mauritania and became known to Tuareg smiths when the Moors migrated eastward during the Sahelian drought of the 1970s and 1980s.
- Description
- Small triangular shaped blade with a pommel created by the sandwich technique.
- Provenance
- Private European collection, collected Gao and Bourem, Mali, 1959-1971 to 1993
- Exhibition History
- Art from the Forge, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 6, 1995-January 2, 1996
- Art of the Personal Object, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1991-April 9, 2007
- Published References
- Moffett, Dana and Stephen P. Mellor. 2003. The Curator-Conservator Collaboration: Remembering Roy Sieber." African Arts 36 (2), p. 46, no. 2.
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Maker
- Tuareg artist
- Date
- Late 20th century
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase and gift of Mrs. Florence Selden in memory of Carl L. Selden
- Medium
- Silver, copper, wood, plastic
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 17.3 x 1.9 x 0.6 cm (6 13/16 x 3/4 x 1/4 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
