My Local DressMaker

I started selling Fulani jewelry in the early 1990s. I bought my first stock from Ghanaian and Malian glass bead traders I would meet at the Ghana Trade Fair center. I was fascinated by the intricate work and the bright shine of the brass. I had sold brass and silver jewelry from India and Thailand since the late 80s but had never come across any other people who worked brass that thin or that shiny. My customers were equally as fascinated. It would be more than 10 years I would go to Mali and meet Malian Fulani brass jewelry makers for myself.  The origins of the distinctive earring designs is shrouded in a bit of mystery and many stories. The one that rings true to me is that 1000s of years ago the Fulani peoples left the areas of modern day Senegal and became nomadic. They followed their cattle and traded from the Western coast of Africa all the way up towrds he North, some even going as far up as Egypt. Along the way they would trade with the other peoples they incountered.