Bracelet buying "Hombori" Dogon – Mali

Hombori Bracelet
Stone material
Historical reference XIX° – XX° century
Origin Mali

The site of Hombori dates back to the Neolithic. With this particular stone is made jewelry and in particular these bracelets. This stone is a kind of black gneiss more or less veined with white quartz.
They are still worn and made today.
The bracelets in question were sold to the Mossi and Gurunsi ethnic groups in Burkina Faso, and to the Tuareg and Dogon in the Bandiagara area of Mali.
A tuareg saying goes 'when the bracelet breaks, it means that many people speak ill of you'. In response to the demands of different ethnic groups, artisans produced different types of bracelets. There was a real competition between artisans to produce the finest, most polished and beautiful pieces. Bracelets were sold or exchanged for thongs or cowry (shell currency).
Broken bracelets were repaired and sometimes fragments were turned into pendants; the magical power of the stone remained the same.
The bracelets are not only made in Hombori. Contemporary workshops are also located in the Agadez region of Niger, where other bracelets were made. So buying two groups of craftsmen, belonging to two different traditions of workmanship, could produce the same type of bracelet, with particular styles distributed through nomadic peoples such as the Tuareg.
This bracelet specifically shows a large patina of use inside almost all on black tone with some wonderful grain of white.
Inner diameter cm 7,3


Weight 173 g
Dimensions 10 × 10.5 × 2 cm