A comprehensive picture of jewellery beginning with prehistory and continuing into the 20th century with the works of contemporary designers. Ivory, beads, leather, shells, enamel work, precious metals, and stones, alone or in combination, are all illustrated throughout. Pieces chosen for their exceptional quality and historical importance, through wonderfully composed photographs, come to life here. It is rare for jewellery to have a solely aesthetic purpose, for above all it is anchored in the social, religious and political contexts that lend it meaning. Differing attitudes are explained by the function assigned to jewellery in the traditional societies from which the examples in the book are drawn.

The archaeologist and art historian Bérénice Geoffroy-Schneiter is journalist and art critic. She is author of numerous essays and books on Africa and the anthropological evolution of the territories of various countries.