African Gold 244 pages color photos Hard cover 24 x 19 cm 1,068 kg English This volume catalogs the impressive gold collection held by the Gold of Africa Barbier-Mueller Museum in Cape Town, South Africa. It illustrates and surveys an enormous range of ornamental objects from the Sahel and the central West African forest regions. The pieces date from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and include headdresses, rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and items of royal regalia. Many are decorated with figurative motifs such as birds, fish, and fruit, symbols which refer to local proverbs. Magnificent displays of gold intended as demonstrations of a tribal chief’s power and prestige are still worn today in ceremonial occasions.