ANCIENT BRONZE BEAD, NORTH AFRICA C.1200AD

From a group well known and studied from Djenne, a walled city in the Sahara which at the time was a cross road for the transport of gold across the Sahara. The Portuguese established outposts on the African coast in the 15th century to exploit the gold trade. Historical accounts of the city are inconsistent, but these finely crafted beads have been recovered in Djenne. All examples are rare and we found none for sale anywhere. Complete examples are rarer as they are always encountered in degraded condition. This example I 1.72” long and is the best from a small group which we recently acquired.