Not Currently On View in Intersections

Object Name: Necklace

Artist: Unknown

Cultural Group: Zande-Mangbetu peoples

Place of Origin: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Date: 18th-19th century

Dimensions: H: 33.00 cm, W: 38.00 cm, D: 3.80 cm

Materials Used: Hippopotamus teeth, hide, metal

Credit Line and Accession Number: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of the Wellcome Trust. X67.881

What greater statement of power than to encircle one’s neck with the teeth of a hippopotamus? To wear such a necklace is to boldly announce one’s prowess as a hunter or one’s authority as a ruler who claims the rights to all big game animals. This sort of necklace was a prestige article in Central Africa, where many kingdoms existed across the savannas prior to the colonial era.

Gallery text, Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives, 2006