Bambara Hunter's Jacket

A coat that came dressed for trouble.

This hunter's jacket is Bambara, from Mali in West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is leather and other organic material on fabric. Bambara hunters, members of respected hunters' associations, wore tunics like this in the bush and on ceremonial occasions, loading them with amulets believed to protect them. Dark leather strips and packets hang in hundreds from a reddish-brown cloth, thick enough to nearly hide it. Cowrie shells outline the neck, and small round mirrors flash through the fringe. Fifty-three inches wide and forty-two high.

Quiet was evidently not the first concern.