WORLD CULTURES : AFRICA

Object Name: CAN
Description: Tea can, urn. Lidded metal container decorated cover in white, red, blue, and black beads. Beads have been used both as currency and as jewellery since earliest times. Trade developed between Africa and India and the East as early as the first century AD. From the 15th century onwards, glass beads from Venice, Bohemia and Amsterdam were imported and traded for the natural wealth of Africa. Coral from the Mediterranean and cowrie shells from the Indian ocean were also traded for African goods. This beaded tea urn is part of a set of beadworks made for a Zulu wedding.
Materials: Metal, Beads
Place Collected
Catalogue Number: BELUM.C5224
Copyright: National Museums NI

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