Leather Sebe Necklace

A neck ornament with a leather charm/amulet, or sebe/sebbeh: the Mende and Temne name for charm/amulet. It is made from Mandingo leatherwork, which is traditionally associated with Muslim elites in the North of Sierra Leone. Their are four sebe attached to a black leather chord; the two larger leather rectangular boxes have a tooled flower design. Sebe/sebbeh, like these, usually contain Quranic scripts.

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Further Information

  • Type: Body adornment, jewellery
  • Object: Leather Sebe Necklace
  • Materials: Leather, animal skin
  • Culture Group: Mandingo
  • Dimensions: 290mm [L] x 90mm [W]
  • Production Date: Pre 1901
  • Associated Places: Unknown
  • Associated People: Thomas Joshua Alldridge (Collector)
  • Museum: British Museum
  • Accession Number: BM:Af.1901.419.1.a

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