Tuareg Shell & Leather Pendant (Khomissar) & Necklace

This necklace and pendant is from the Tuareg people of Niger and Mali. This actual example is illustrated in Ginzberg (2000, p. 284).

Worn by women and known as a khomessa or khomissar, such pendants were handed down from mother to daughter, and usually were presented to the daughter once she had reached an age to accept suitors.

The form of the pendant represents a stylised hand of Fatima, who was the Prophet Mohammed’s daughter, and was worn as a talisman or amulet to protect the wearer. Each of the five diamond segments represents the fingers and thumb of Fatima’s hand.

It is suspended from a cloth strings heavily laden with dozens of rows of black glass trade beads.

Examples made of shell, such as the example here, were said to promote fertility.  The shell has been cut into diamond sections and cut in such a way that the natural ridge of the shell runs through the centre of each plaque. Each shell segment has been mounted on a block of leather comprising many sheets of leather that have been stuck together and cut into diamond shapes. It is possible, that the leather might have comprised old religious parchment, though this is not necessary, since the power of the pendant derives from its hand-of-Fatimah alone.

Other examples are illustrated in Fisher (1987, p. 208), Borel (1994, p. 49), and Seligman & Loughran (2006, p. 172).

The example here is in excellent condition.