This delicately wrought necklace composed of hundreds of tiny trefoils and rosettes is one of the oldest pieces of jewelry in the entire Johnson collection. Necklaces like this—that break or contain high levels of gold—often fall prey to the goldsmith’s melting pot, whether to be remade in a new style or to pay bills during times of hardship.
Unidentified artist
Pair of pendants (xobu gerté)
These pendants may represent the peanut or groundnut, the gathering and selling of which is exclusively a female activity. Any income generated from the sale of groundnuts belongs entirely to the woman, as does any jewelry she may commission or receive as gifts of betrothal and marriage or from mutual aid collectives known as tontines. Naming jewelry inspired by the peanut plant would have been a woman’s responsibility, revealing the collaborative nature of creating jewelry.
Pair of necklace pendants
Filigree bracelet
Silver jewelry has recently become more popular in Senegal’s cities. Constructed using the same techniques as gold, silver jewelry is more affordable and can be purchased and covered in a thin layer of gold for advanced affordability, or brought back later for coating.
Necklace and earrings ensemble
Necklace pendant with central flower motif
Gold has long served as a shared global commodity and standard of value. It is one of the softest metals and is extremely resistant to corrosion. When royalty and the elite—those who could afford the purest of gold—first commissioned jewelry, the ratio of gold to alloying component was much higher than what one sees today.
Most of the jewelry in this exhibition is made from a silver or copper alloy, with small amounts of gold present. Because the gold content in these alloys is often not sufficient to achieve the desired golden hue, artists employed gold plate. Called or de Galam in Wolof or or du pays in French, this “country gold” provides maximum flexibility in color (ranging from more yellow to more orange) and accommodates smaller budgets. The most affluent and discerning customers still strive for 14-, 18-, or 22-karat gold whenever possible, though mixtures or silver covered in gold are most common.