ABSTRACT
Manillas and bracelets seem a minor category in light of such elaborate Lower Niger copper-alloy works as leopard skull replicas and humanoid figures, but the myriad coiled, twisted, decorated manillas and bracelets found throughout southern Nigeria demonstrate their versatility and popularity. Many museums, even those not noted for their African art collections, have examples of the elaborated manillas from southern Nigeria. Despite the ubiquity of manillas throughout southern Nigeria and an extensive literature on their use, it remains unclear where they originated. European slave trade records offer ample information on the astounding magnitude of the manilla trade. By the time of European coastal trade from the fifteenth century on, metal trade items, rods as well as manillas, had less copper but more lead and zinc; thus there was a decreasing quality, although these changes made for easier brass casting.
