ID on Sahel leather pattern

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Iain

Hi all,

Anyone seen leather work like the attached? Any idea of a regional or tribal ID?

Thanks!

Salaams Iain, When I first looked at this I had to remind myself where the Sahel actually is... and since I always thought Sahel was something tied to a coastline it confused me somewhat...however I noted that Sahel means~

Quote"The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition in Africa between the Sahara desert to the north and the Sudanian Savanna to the south. Having a semi-arid climate, it stretches across the southernmost extent of Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. The Arabic word sāḥil (ساحل) literally means "shore, coast", describing the appearance of the vegetation found in the Sahel as being akin to that of a coastline delimiting the sand of the Sahara".Unquote.

To confirm it in my mind I needed a map! See below.

With the map in mind and the task I first have to point out the enormity of the question; not least in actually getting on the ground to see these places...so if this is your chosen area then it underlines the huge scope involved.. In looking at leather it is impossible not to view other decorative styles ...such as jewellery patterns, woodcarving, architecture, tattooing to name a few....The scope is vast! Certainly Zanzibari /Omani style is in part similar and I would point to the broken chains as related to slavery.

The geometric other patterns have numerous meanings but as usual the tribes may well have forgotten those. The geometry, I think, happened when these regions adopted Islam alongside their ancient religions and superstitions.. Naturally therefor African tribal lore encompasses both humanistic and geometric form... thus often the two may sit side by side on decorative objects.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Iain]

Hi Ibrahiim,

The Sahel is simply the strip of land lying below the Sahara and is the transitional zone before the forest climates closer to the equator. When discussing swords, this is typically divided into the regions using takouba and those using kaskara, with of course Ethiopia at the far end.

The question was not as vast as you might think! While the Sahel is a large area, there are many commonalities in decorative elements, divided up between the major ethnic groups in these areas.

As you can see from previous responses to this thread this particular example has been more or less confirmed to be from Ethiopian regions.

Some of the patterns commonly observed in the Western Sahel have their roots with Berber influence and of course as you note Islamic influence certainly played a part. However non-Islamic groups had similar traditions of decorative motifs.

All the best,
Iain

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Yes indeed ... I noted from Art of Ethiopia see www.pinterest.com/bwtcproject/art-of-ethiopia that Ethiopian art comes in many forms, including religious and secular painting, basketry, crosses, jewelery, icons, illuminated manuscripts, crowns and many other art forms. Its history goes back almost three thousand years to the kingdom of D'mt.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.