Magnificent Efik Brass Charger

A Magnificent Efik Brass Charger dating from around 1900 decorated with punched decoration of a strolling elephant beside a river or lake.

Engraved (in England (?)) around the edge with a dedication in Gothic Script “A Token of Good Faith from Mr. Fashole Luke to Dr.Oakley”. The Efik were middlemen trading goods from the West, in this case a plain brass dish from Birmingham, with tribes of the Cross River or Calabar district. Large brass dishes such as this were regarded as important prestige items, displayed to demonstrate great wealth, or given to other important dignitaries.

Old Calabar, Southern Nigeria, West Africa.

dia 28.75 ins