MADE IN BIRMINGHAM.

Shannon News, 30 January 1923, Page 4

MADE IN BIRMINGHAM.

RESTING PLACES OF CHIEFS. It is grave as well as an odd manufacture which is carried on at Birmingham, that of coffins for the palm-oil potentates and native chiefs in West and South-Vtast Africa.. They are made of solid brass, and in the majority of cases are ordered by the chiefs themselves and used in their houses until required for their primary purpose, much after the style that 'we use a costly cabinet containing treasures. Many chiefs regard the coffin with as much reverence as the Chinese.

The eoffins are of huge dimensions", being from seven to eight feet long, three feet in depth, and are in the widest part nearly four feet across. The lid moves on a hinge," and is always provided with at least two padlocks and keys. Sometimes the locks are fitted in the inside, which suggests that a chief may occasionally use the coffin as a bed and lock himself in.

The brass is highly burnished, and in the bright sunlight .gives off a dazzling glitter, which appeals strongly to the native taste. The chiefs are richly decorated with raised ornaments and attractively designed rods which run round the sides.

The shield-plate bears emblazonings and sometimes figures symbolical of mythology or of strange religious beliefs. The general effectiveness is enhanced by a number of swan and ostrich plumes, usually in crimson or gold, arranged in sockets at intervals. A coffin will weigh anything up to 7001 b., and, as indicated, has sufficient space for several bodies. It may be the desire of a chief that his favourite wives shall be buried with him.