Lot 0309

11th C. African Mali Tellem Quartz Ear Plugs (pr)

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11th C. African Mali Tellem Quartz Ear Plugs (pr): **Originally Listed At $400** West Africa, Mali, Tellem culture, ca. 11th to 15th century CE. A pair of hand-made quartz crystal ear or lip plugs hand shaped using a pecking and polishing method with

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11th C. African Mali Tellem Quartz Ear Plugs: **Originally Listed At $500** West Africa, Mali, Tellem culture, ca. 11th to 15th century CE. A pair of hand carved quartz ear plugs, long and thin with flared ends for securing in the earlobe or thro

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Neolithic North African Quartz Ear Plugs (pr): Originally listed at $400 North Africa, Sahara Desert, Late Stone Age, ca. 50,000 to 10,000 years ago. A remarkable pair of Neolithic ear plugs, both hand-sculpted from translucent pink quartz crysta

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Prehistoric African Stone Age Quartz Labrets (pr): North Africa, Sahara Desert, Late Stone Age, ca. 50,000 to 10,000 years ago. A pair of hand-made quartz crystal labrets or ear plugs hand shaped using a pecking and polishing method with stone and san

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19th C. African Dogon Stone Seated Ancestor Figure: West Africa, Mali or Burkina Faso, Dogon culture, ca. 19th to early 20th century CE. A hand-carved ancestor or Tellem figure made from a warm red-brown sandstone in a stylized crouching position. The

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20th C. African Gurunsi Wood Antelope Mask: West Africa, Burkina Faso or Mali, Gurunsi or Bobo people, ca. mid to late 20th century CE. A dramatic mask with a large vertical crest and a protruding antelope head. The verso has a cut out shallow

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19th C. Mali Bamana Wood Ntomo Mask with Cowries: Western Africa, Mali, Bamana peoples, ca. late 19th to early 20th century CE. Perhaps the oldest and most important Ntomo masks we have ever handled, carved from hardwood and presenting a wonderful vi

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11th C. African Mali Tellem Quartz Ear Plugs (pr)

Item Details

Description

**Originally Listed At $400**

West Africa, Mali, Tellem culture, ca. 11th to 15th century CE. A pair of hand-made quartz crystal ear plugs. Translucent with a pink hue, these were shaped and polished to have a slightly bulbous end that prevented the tubular point from falling out of the earlobe. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website: "What little is known of Tellem society is based on the contents of remote chambers of Bandiagara necropoli, or collective burial sites. Tellem residents of villages located at the foot of the high cliff in the Seno plain went to great lengths to hoist up and deposit their dead for safeguarding within its caves, along with precious possessions and agricultural reserves. Among the items of adornment recovered are cylindrical quartz plugs worn in the lip, nose, and ears and beads made of glass, quartz, and carnelian. Other intimate possessions that accompanied their owners into the afterlife include headrests and stools." Size of largest: 1.2" L x 0.3" W (3 cm x 0.8 cm)

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection, 1995 to 2010; ex-German Collection

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#159666

Condition

Light surface wear with nicks and abrasions commensurate with age. Otherwise, both are intact and excellent. Each inscribed with the letter "C" on 1 end.