Pair of Anklets with Expanded Disks (Ogba)

Although the making of brass anklets for wealthy young women ceased by the early 20th century, they were seen as part of the ensemble worn by Maiden-Spirit masqueraders in the 1940s. The incised designs appear similar to women's facial and body decorations and may have had particular meanings. Women continued to wear them as they matured into middle age. By wearing these cumbersome and heavy plate-like anklets, they conveyed their social status in not having to attend to daily domestic tasks (for they had sufficient servants and/or children for labor).