Ashanti Shield

Riveting deep tones of highly polished blue and green chrysocolla perfectly contrast with primitive old world African brass to create this unusually distinct pendant necklace that is a definite fusion of ancient and modern styles and components. I love the way these two elements complement each other with the chrysocolla enhancing the natural beauty of the raw brass while the ruggedness of the brass brings out the earthiness of the chrysocolla gemstone. This wonderfully soulful necklace is an original piece of handcrafted artisan jewelry that emanates appreciation for history and culture and will make you feel mysterious and knowledgeable.

Chrysocolla is a blue-green stone with brown or black inclusions and sometimes gold flecks that is a minor ore of copper as it is naturally found in areas rich with copper. Its name is of Greek origin, chrysos meaning gold and kolla meaning glue, in reference to similar-looking material from the island of Cyprus that was used to solder gold. In its pure form, Chrysocolla is a too fragile for jewelry use, so these beads are Chrysocolla that has been agatized to make it harder and stronger. The engaging stone has all kinds of meaning attached to it, but of the most interesting is that it is supposed to bring tranquility, peace, patience, intuition and unconditional love to the wearer. Wow…we could all use some of that!

The African brass in this necklace is individually handmade in a small Ashanti village near Kumasi, Ghana called Krofrom using traditional and very time intensive methods. The method is called "lost wax" and it consists of weaving wax "wires" into a form, investing them in clay, burning out the wax and pouring molten brass into the mold. Each mold is hand made making each bead or fetish slightly different from the next. These amazing miniature works of art look and feel ancient in appearance and are overflowing with African character and soul.

This irresistibly ethnic artisan necklace closes with a large brass lobster clasp and can adjust from 19 to 23 inches in length.