Featured Tribal necklace identification help

hello all, I was hoping someone here might be able to tell me what kind of necklace this might be, or maybe what it was used for. It’s a very unusual piece, and I believe it is African. Each of the little wooden pins is wrapped in metal with what looks like inscriptions all around them. The wood looks like it’s been made to look like people with burned out eyes. Additionally, each wooden pin has a hole carved into it with something inserted into the hole. It’s weight is substantial and I believe it to be an antique. Any help or a point in the right direction to resources for more info would be greatly appreciated! Cheers!

 

Welcome Vesuvia, @2manybooks may be able to help you, she has been tagged.

 

Thank you! For the welcome and for passing along the word. Cheers!

 

Hello Vesuvia. It does look African, but I have not seen anything quite like it. It might be related to some types of North African amulet necklaces, which have verses from the Quran encased in little leather packets. Or it may be some other sort of charms. But I will need to do some research. If you have a magnet, can you tell me if any of the beads or wire are magnetic (and thus made of iron)? Can you characterize the material inserted into the wooden beads? - is it fabric, or paper, or is it some sort of granular material? I will try to get back here later today.

 

Hello! Thank you so much! I’ve had this piece for a year and have taken it to several places, but no one has been able to tell me much about it, beyond they did not believe it was a piece that was ever intended for export; oh!, and that it wasn’t a shamanic necklace (as was my first thought).

My neodymium magnet instantly attracts the metal spacer beads, and quite strongly at that; but, not the silver tone (I’m guessing tin? Lead? It’s definitely not silver, as confirmed with acid testing) nor copper wrapped pieces. And, to tell you the truth, I’m not so sure I really want to go digging in the holes to check the contents...the leather on this piece, in all honesty, looks like it might just very well perhaps be human...upon closer examination....

I can tell you that whatever is in the holes looks to be organic, like pulp, wood pulp maybe? Almost looks like malt o meal. I will try to take a few closer images of these things I am now noticing...

 

SIDEBAR: @2manybooks , please accept my apologies for any past incidents where I have addressed you with an incorrect pronoun.

The things you learn on these forums.

 

The contents are probably some sort of "medicine", then, not any kind of scripture. No need to dig around in it further. The iron beads makes me more confident it is African. I am hunting for similar wire wrapped wooden beads, but so far have only found a simpler example from the Luo:

https://anthro.amnh.org/collections

 

No worries. If we didn't want a certain amount of anonymity we would all just use our real names. I am still not sure about many of you , but I suppose I could check your bio info if it seemed important.

 

Just stick with me, you'll be fine.

 

I don't know the first thing about it, other than I have not previously seen the like, but those beads look like antler to me?

 

And here Rae the last of the photos. My goodness, this could either be wonderfully ghastly, or horribly ghastly. I don’t know how I feel about it all yet! <waits patiently for something ghastly>. Thank you all for looking. O_O

 

what's the general size range of the pieces?

 

Great photos, Vesuvia, and excellent description of the metals used. I think the problem with a precise identification may be that such things were an individual's talisman, and could be idiosyncratic rather than typical of a tribal "style". But I will keep looking.
The wrapped beads look like wood, and the leather with hair still attached is typical of African minimally tanned skins.

 

I just started looking for components and while "coiled wire beads" may sound fairly generic, all the ones I thought were similar to this piece were Ethiopian.

Could be a total coincidence.

This piece is listed as Ethiopian and early 20th century. https://beadsofparadisenyc.com/coll...ucts/early-20th-c-ethiopian-copper-coil-beads

 

The wood/bone/wrapped pieces vary in length from 1”-1.5”. The necklace itself is approx. 24” long, although I have not braved untying the unknown-origin leather tie.

 

Upon warming the beads, there is clearly a woodsy smell, so maybe not so ghastly after all

 

Very nice. I appreciate all of you and your input. I’ve been fascinated with this necklace for a year now and appreciate the info. The iron/metal bits make the most soothing tinkling sound when jostled about. Excellent weight to it as well. Thank you all for looking at my find

More to come! And my gosh, do I wish I had found this forum sooner! Everyone is so knowledgeable and I just adore, adore, adore jewelry! Cheers!

 

Okay, I thought I might be stretching for similarities, but since you said that.

There is an Ethiopian fertility necklace.



Probably not related. Sometimes a piece of wood is just a, wait no, what.