❤️❤️❤️

The gold was melted, reshaped by local smiths

into the form their hearts already knew, the mamuli. Mamuli makamalaku — L 6.5 cm, 24 g.

Material: white alloy (lead, tin, sometimes copper).

Origin: Sumba Island, Indonesia — part of Nusa Tenggara Timur, ~11,150 km².

Name: makamalaku = “naked, undecorated.”

Type: female mamuli (plain form) as opposed to male mamuli (decorated, often ending in horse heads).

Function: bridewealth, ritual currency, symbol of peace and fertility.

Originally crafted in gold; later made in silver or white alloy, considered of equal value due to color and shine.

“In the firelight, the smith did not only shape iron — he shaped agreement.”

In parts of Central Africa, blades like this one — part weapon, part currency — once sealed marriages, alliances, and peace. It could strike, but it was made to signify: power, beauty, and promise.

Today, it rests silent in the Alex Schütz Collection, its curves still whispering the shimmer of exchange — where metal was memory, and wealth was spoken in form.

→ Read more on Substack

The Blade That Spoke of Wealth From the Nights of the Alex Schütz Collection

Text:

“In the firelight, the smith did not only shape iron — he shaped agreement.”

In parts of Central Africa, blades like this one — part weapon, part currency — once sealed marriages, alliances, and peace. It could strike, but it was made to signify: power, beauty, and promise.

Today, it rests silent in the Alex Schütz Collection, its curves still whispering the shimmer of exchange — where metal was memory, and wealth was spoken in form.