Armitage was made Governor of Gambia in 1895 and left Africa in 1920 after serving in a number of Royal appointments. During that time he collected items that were used in the gold trade and of course, they were of great age at the time he collected them. Armitage died with no children and his collection was divided between two nephews. Both sold their holdings in the 1980s and we purchased most of the collection. We sold some to an artist who reproduced them and the reproductions are sold in museum shops. Others will appear on the internet in the future.

This is a rare Ashanti cast brass bracelet collected by Armitage around the turn of the century.  It had some age at that time and may easily date before 1880. It measures 2.46" (62.8mm)wide(inside). These bracelets were worn by women and had a secondary function because the women fought physically among themselves and these were used to punctuate a blow.  Sir Cecil Armitage collected many of these in addition to his famous gold weight collection.  We bought the collection and have seen only a few other examples in 50 years collecting. Condition is as shown.