MEB 22-202

Research by: Sarai Martín López
Institució dipositària: Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món (MuEC)
Nº inventari institucional: MEB 22-202
Breu descripció institucional: Amulet, hand of Fatima (Advertiment: Definition given in the institution's own inventories, which we do not necessarily share and which in some cases may be offensive or the result of prejudice.

Lloc d'adquisició: Atlas Bazar of Ahmed R'Kaina. Tétouan, Morocco (not recorded in the museum's inventories).
Advertiment: Data extracted from the documentary collections of the institution, which may be erroneous or incorrectly transcribed. The historical toponymy (often of colonial origin) has been retained to give coherence to the research.
Place of production/origin: Tetuan
Advertiment: Data extracted from the documentary collections of the institution, which may be erroneous or incorrectly transcribed. The historical toponymy (often of colonial origin) has been retained to give coherence to the research.
Collector: August Panyella and Eudald Serra
Advertiment: The personal or institutional names that appear, often associated with the colonial order, may be offensive or the result of prejudice. These references are used to give coherence to the research.
Donant: Ahmed R’Kaina
Advertiment: The personal or institutional names that appear, often associated with the colonial order, may be offensive or the result of prejudice. These references are used to give coherence to the research.
Classification group: Not recorded in the museum's inventories
Advertiment: Data extracted from the documentary collections of the institution, which may be erroneous or incorrectly transcribed, and which we do not necessarily share. We keep a terminology (tribe, people, ethnicity, race, country, etc.), created or manipulated during the colonial period, to give coherence to the research.
Holder of the legal property rights: Barcelona City Council
Advertiment: Reference is made to the holder of the rights recognized by the legal and juridical systems of the former colonial metropolises, regardless of the property rights that may emanate from the communities of origin.

Summary of results

This is a Fatima hand acquired by August Panyella and Eudald Serra during the 1952 expedition, specifically on 22 October 1952. It was purchased for 230 pesetas at the Atlas Bazar of the merchant Ahmed R’Kaina, in Tétouan. This is a shop selling handicrafts, fabrics, antiques, and other similar items, which was visited on many occasions during the museum’s expeditions to the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco.

Chronological reconstruction of provenance

It seems that about eight Fatima hands were purchased during the first expedition in 1952, according to the hand-written inventories in the field diary (although the Excel inventories provided by the museum show nine from this expedition). Throughout the trip, reference is made to these acquisitions in different souks, but there is a coincidence on 22 October 1952, when we are told of an offer on purchases (five thousand pesetas) made in the Atlas Bazaar of Ahmed R’Kaina, in Tétouan, where ‘carpets, tapestries of all kinds, leather goods, worked metals, and antiques’ are sold, according to the business card (MEB_L128_05_03).

On page 102 of the field notes there is a list of the purchases made, and among them there is a small list of Fatima’s hands, identified by some characteristic feature of the object. In this case the match is recognizable because it is described as ‘larger dragon hand’ (MEB_L128_05_02). No other Fatima hand in the MuEC inventory has a similar drawing.

Estimation of provenance

It is thought to have come from purchases made at the Atlas Bazaar of Ahmed R’Kaina in Tétouan. The handwritten list in the field notes which mentions this Fatima hand does not specify the exact price of the object, since it was part of a batch of items which, as noted in the notes, had a value of five thousand pesetas. However—if we assume that the inventory number of the MuEC corresponds to those of the supporting numbers, as is the case with the rest of the pieces—it is likely that it would have cost 230 pesetas.

Possible alternative classifications

No es perceben classificacions alternatives.

Complementary sources

Archives:

MEB_L128_05_02

MEB_L128_05_03

Bibliography:

López Bargados, A. i Martín López, S. (2022). Entre zocos e internados. Itinerarios y procedimientos en las expediciones del Museo Etnológico y Colonial de Barcelona al Protectorado español sobre Marruecos (1952-1956). Ajuntament de Barcelona.

Soriano, M. D. (2010). Historia, tradición y cultura: Las colecciones africanas del período colonial del Museu Etnològic de Barcelona. Dins Actes del 7è Congrés Ibèric de Estudis Africans (p. 1-20). Lisboa.