Object Details
- Tukulor artist
- Label Text
- This gold necklace with central, hollow biconical pendant is rendered in delicate and tightly packed granulation in geometric motif. Great skill is needed to create a necklace such as this, and it takes many years to master the granulation and filigree techniques it incorporates. Amongst the Tukulor, the biconical necklace is known as a "corval" or "korwal," but the design has a much further reach, and is popular amongst the Peul, Wolof, Sonrai, Sarakole and the Bamana. Some of the finest, such as this, are made by Peul or Tukulor smiths, and are highly prized, particularly by wealthier women.
- The form itself may be traced back to the Middle East, making its way to West Africa via the trans-Saharan trade perhaps as long as one thousand years ago. However, a similar ornament of copper was found in El Oualedji (Mali) in a tomb dated between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, and other biconical forms have appeared in Morocco, Ephesus (ca. 8th century B.C.), and as far flung as India. Its hollow composition hints at the potential for use as a receptacle for charms or perfumes, but this is rarely seen in other hollow Senegalese jewelry forms.
- Description
- Gold-plated silver alloy necklace of hollow double or biconical and spherical beads with a large, central biconical pendent, heavily decorated with granulation, filigree and a row of small applied globules at its circumference in geometric patterns. Holes are pierced through the surface in triangular and half-circles and surrounded by twisted wire. The smaller bicones and spheres are similarly decorated with granulation, and pierced with holes, in groupings of three (spheres) and lines of five (bicones). The spheres and bicones alternate and are connected by links of twisted wire chain, folded over.
- Provenance
- Marian Johnson, purchased in Dakar, Senegal, 1963-late 20th century to 2012
- Exhibition History
- Good As Gold: Fashioning Senegalese Women, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 24, 2018-February 2, 2020; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, September 16, 2020-January 3, 2021
- Published References
- Maples, Amanda, Ashby Johnson, Marian, and Dumouchelle, Kevin D., 2018, Good As Gold, Washington, D.C.: NMAfA, Smithsonian, p. 81, illustrated p. 83
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Credit Line
- Gift of Dr. Marian Ashby Johnson
- Late 19th-early 20th century
- Object number
- 2012-18-9
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Jewelry
- Medium
- Gold-plated silver alloy
- Dimensions
- L: 87.9 cm (34 5/8 in.)
- Main Bicone Pendant: 4.7 x 7.1 x 4.7 cm (1 13/16 x 2 13/16 x 1 13/16 in.)
- Geography
- Senegal
- Mali
- See more items in
- National Museum of African Art Collection
- Object Name
- Korval
- National Museum of African Art
- Topic
- Adornment
- Female use
- geometric motif
- male
- Record ID
- nmafa_2012-18-9
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys729dddbe4-5f20-42c4-b04e-412d5f890a13
