Made by hand in our partner workshop in China  ·  Shipped worldwide  ·  Every symbol comes with its sources
Atlas  /  For love  /  Osram ne NsorommaNo. 13
Plate ISub-Saharan Africa · GhanaOsram ne Nsoromma, drawn by Wishlore
Pl. IOsram ne Nsoromma. A crescent moon holding a star. Drawing: Wishlore, after Akan Adinkra.
No. 13  ·  For love  ·  Sub-Saharan Africa

Osram ne Nsoromma

“The moon and the star”: an Adinkra symbol of the Akan people of Ghana.

Earliest record
Akan Adinkra cloth, British Museum, 1817
Source
British Art Studies, “Adinkra: from Kumase to the British Museum”
Region
Sub-Saharan Africa · Ghana
Wish
For love
Layers
Record Folk Modern · No early record
Keep this symbol · from £2.99Read the sources
The story · three layers

The story, in three layers.

Record, Folk and Modern are kept apart, and each one carries its source.

I
Record
Ghana, 1817

A cloth in the British Museum, 1817

The British Museum holds an Adinkra cloth from 1817. Adinkra symbols began as proverb patterns printed on mourning cloth.

II
Folk
Akan tradition

Love, faithfulness, harmony

Osram ne Nsoromma — “the moon and the star” — is read as love, faithfulness and harmony.

III
Modern
Shops, today

Sold as a love charm

Shops sell it as a love charm. We found no early record of that use. It belongs to a living Akan tradition, and we name Akan makers when we show it.

Osram ne Nsoromma
Akan Adinkra cloth, British Museum, 1817
Story and sources on the reverse
Pl. IIThe story card. Every printed piece carries the story and a code that opens the full source list.
Keep it close

How would you like to keep it?

Add to bag · £8
  • Pendants are whole symbols, drawn from this plate. Pictures are design drawings, not photos, until the piece is made and photographed
  • Printed cards and pendants are made in our partner workshop in China and shipped worldwide
  • Delivery: [UK/EU/US days TBC]; duties shown at checkout
In one breath
The moon and the star, printed on cloth. Who would you keep it for?
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