Lobi Bronze Bracelet Currency Manilla

Lobi peoples, mid-20th century, Burkina Faso, West Africa

A beautifully crafted Lobi bronze bracelet manilla, created using the traditional lost-wax casting method. Compact, heavy, and visually striking, this piece is divided into two decorated sections featuring deeply carved geometric panels framed by a pair of elongated spike-like terminals—an uncommon and highly sculptural design.

Manillas, a classic form of West African bronze or copper currency, served for centuries as both exchange valuables and personal adornments. Produced in a wide range of forms prior to and during early European trade, they continued to circulate into the mid-20th century. Their distinctive horseshoe shapes and regionally specific styles made them markers of wealth, status, and identity within local economies.

Good condition. Wear consistent with age and use. Size approx. 7,9cm x 6,4cm x 1,3cm. 

Provenance: Dutch private collection.

For a similar example see:

Bracelet, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number: 1988.382.2 (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/316183)

References and further reading:

The Teach Yourself Guide to Numismatics, C.C. Chamberlain, English Universities Press. 1963, p. 92.

The West African Manilla Currency: Research and Securing of Evidence from 1439-2019, Rolf Denk, Tredition GmbH, Hamburg, 2020.

Primitive Money in its ethnological, historical and economic aspects, Paul Einzig, Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1949.

Object biographies, Manilla or Penannular Bracelet Currency, Eric Edwards, Balfour Library, Pitt Rivers Museum, January 29th, 2010. (https://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/rpr/index.php/objectbiographies/78-manilla.html)

Occult Conversations, or How the Thila Make the Law for the Lobi, Claude-Henri Pirat, Arts d'Afrique,Voir l'Invisible, Musée d'Aquitaine, Bordeaux, Hazan, Paris, 2011, p. 85-91. and p. 217-220.

Anonyme Schnitzer der Lobi, Floros & Sigrid Katsouros/ Stephan & Petra Herkenhoff, Published by Hannover: Ethnographika, 2006.

Lobi Statuary and the Statuary of Related Peoples, an Example of Cult Art, Claude-Henri Pirat Tribal Arts Magazine, Paris/San Francisco, No:1, March 1994, p. 22-32.

Object biographies, Manilla or Penannular Bracelet Currency, Eric Edwards, Balfour Library, Pitt Rivers Museum, January 29th, 2010. (https://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/rpr/index.php/objectbiographies/78-manilla.html)