These are small manillas made of a copper alloy and dating from the 18th or 19th century. Manillas became used as forms of currency, especially in the Niger Delta area of West Africa.
They were manufactured in European foundries, based on African designs, and were frequently used as a source of metal for casting in Africa. More decorative manillas were worn as ornamentation and to signify wealth and status.
© National Museums Liverpool
Accession reference: National Museums Liverpool, Ethnology Collection 32.103.2
Themes
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Trade and Commerce
Understand how the demand for luxury goods and the Industrial Revolution fuelled the transatlantic slave trade, and how the British…
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Africa before Transatlantic Enslavement
The history of Africa and African people does not begin nor end with transatlantic slavery. Understand what Africa was like and what the continent lost as a result of the trade.
Background Reading
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The Lost Libraries Of Timbuktu
Until recently, many commentators on Africa claimed that African societies had no tradition of writing. With the rediscovery of ancient manuscript collections, some dating back to the 8th century AD, this perception is changing.
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Introduction To Various African Kingdoms