Congolese Handa or Cross Currency, Based
Product ID: A1400-299
$2,950.00
About this piece
Rougher and darker than its cousin, and all the better for it.
A handa, or cross currency, from the Katanga region of the Kasai River area in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, cast in bronze in the 19th century. These cross-shaped ingots were commonly used as currency and in marriage payments. Its arms spread wide from a pinched center, and the surface is finely pitted, brown-gray, with a faint green tinge near the edges. Two small pins bind the center. It stands on a flat black mount.
About seventeen inches high. A letter X that happens to have a past.
