Katanga Cross (african Currency)
Copper coin used in Katanga (now Democratic Republic of Congo) from the 13th to the early 20th century.
Dimensions : 20.8 cm x 20.5 cm. Weight : 686 gr
Beautiful patina of use.
Katanga is a region particularly rich in copper. The extraction and smelting of the metal were once the preserve of a mysterious community known as the "copper eaters". These highly ritualized operations were characterized by an atmosphere as sacred as it was magical. The crosses, or croisettes, were made in molds traced in the sand with fingers. These objects were used as a means of payment as early as the 13th century. Even in the 19th and 20th centuries, when a man asked a woman to marry him, he would pay the family with one of these large crosses to compensate for the loss of labor caused by her departure.
Shipping: Secure packaging and delivery by Colissimowith insurance, for metropolitan France: 20 € - Europe 25 €
Dimensions : 20.8 cm x 20.5 cm. Weight : 686 gr
Beautiful patina of use.
Katanga is a region particularly rich in copper. The extraction and smelting of the metal were once the preserve of a mysterious community known as the "copper eaters". These highly ritualized operations were characterized by an atmosphere as sacred as it was magical. The crosses, or croisettes, were made in molds traced in the sand with fingers. These objects were used as a means of payment as early as the 13th century. Even in the 19th and 20th centuries, when a man asked a woman to marry him, he would pay the family with one of these large crosses to compensate for the loss of labor caused by her departure.
Shipping: Secure packaging and delivery by Colissimowith insurance, for metropolitan France: 20 € - Europe 25 €
280 €
Period: 19th century
Style: Orientalism
Condition: Condition of use
Material: Copper
Reference (ID): 1762248
Availability: In stock
Print
