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The Collector(s) / Donor(s) Barbara Porter-Spaulding, now a successful veterinarian living and working in West Fargo, North Dakota, was formerly a graduate student of verterinarian medicine at MSU. She lived in Niger in 1980s as a Peace Corps Volunteer. During her sojourn she became very interested in the fine metal and leather work of the Tuareg and collected several examples of their work, primarily as souvenirs. Returning to the U.S., Porter-Spaulding came to appreciate the cultural value of the objects and wanted to share them with other people. In 1992, she donated some of her collection to the Museum. Collector(s) / Donor(s) Statement The Object(s) The Tuareg are nomads living in the desert and sahel regions of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Algeria, and Libya. Tuareg blacksmiths (inadan) are famous for their fine metalwork. Like many smiths in this part of the world, the inadan belong to an exclusive social group who only marry among themselves. The male members of this group carve wood implements and forge metal, the female members are leatherworkers and weavers. Loughran (1995: 18) informs us that "Tuareg women use locks (tanast) to close the leather bags that hold their jewelry and other precious belongs. These are rectangular, made of cast iron, and decorated with overlays of different metals--such as tin, copper, and brass. Smiths first fashion the metal casing and attach the clasp perpendicular to one of the side walls. Three of the side walls have key holes. The lock mechanism, hidden in the metal casing, is a system of different springs that are released when the keys (asarou) press them together. These locks can only be opened with the keys made specifically for them." This set of lock and keys was produced in Agadez. Porter-Spaulding acquired them from the Tuareg blacksmith, Moloule al-Rhameret. Further Information Books and Articles Kristyne Loughran. Art from the Forge. Washington, DC: National Museum of African Art, 1995. Johannes Nicolaisen and Ida Nicolaisen. The Pastoral Tuareg: Ecology, Culture, and Society. 2 vols. London: Thames and Hudson, 1997. Internet Resourcesnone
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