African / Indian Tote/ Bag/ Leather/ Beaded
11 July 2021
Description

Dimensions: 20" x 9" (at the widest) x 5" Age: Unknown Material: Leather, possible whole skin from smaller animal, as bottom back strap connects to what appears to be legs. Adorned with shells and possible trade beads. Has been patch repaired.

Provenance

Unknown

Acquired from
Other
For sale
Maybe
Answered within 7 days
By Leah I.
Jul 18, 19:21 UTC
Fair Market Value
$150 - $250 USD
Suggested Asking Price $200 USD
What does this mean?

Thank you for contacting Mearto and I apologize for the delay.
Your item is fairly anomalous; I haven’t seen anything like it before and have tried my best to research what it could be and find similar items for valuation.

Here is what I came up with:

Millefiori Murano Bead - Venetian glass beads like this were made in Italy and used as African trade beads, traditionally.

Brass tube bead - I am not sure what the red etching is; could this be a filed down bullet casing?

White with yellow line cowrie shells -
Monetaria annulus, common name the ring cowrie, ring top cowrie, or gold ring cowrie
Indian ocean, east africa, pacific
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetaria_annulus

Filigree brass beads - unknown, look East African in design

Shark tooth - signifies proximity to ocean (?)

My best guess is this bag is from Northeast Africa and could have been used as either a medicine bag or possibly an arrow quiver. Below are links to similar items that I could find. Most are Native American and some are African. This is to give you an idea of prices for bags roughly the same in materials and size.

We offer refunds through our terms of use page if you feel my appraisal is not helpful. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Medicine bags:
2 for $180
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/80365287_two-beaded-native-american-shoulder-or-medicine-bags
$700
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/7600111_48-blackfoot-calf-medicine-bag
$200
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/44924787_-native-american-medicine-bag
$275
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/3232901_113-a-shoshone-or-nez-perce-indian-medicine-bag-from
$250, archery set
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/10927171_404-african-pygmy-spear-and-arrow-set

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