Tuareg Tooled Leather Box

Shallow box wearing a carved lid of leaves in neat compartments.

This tooled leather box is Tuareg, from Mali, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is leather & wood. The Tuareg of the Sahara are known for leatherwork, and their stitched and tooled pouches, cushions and boxes are traditionally made by artisans, often in the smith community. Rectangular box with a lid carved in bands of leaf-like petals and arcs around a central bar. The sides are plain, grainy and darker, with a visible seam where the lid meets the base. The finish is warm reddish brown. It is 9.5 inches wide, 6.8 deep and 2.5 high.

Crisp pattern work for something that mostly stays shut.