European traders frequently gave gifts such as ivory bracelets to the heads of African trading houses, as confirmation of trust and often inscribed with the names of traders and dates.

One half of this bracelet is engraved ‘King Aqua’, the other ‘Prince’. There were numerous Kings of Aqua, inland from Calabar, where Britain dominated the transatlantic slave trade. The word ‘Prince’ might refer to a ship rather than a person; at least one Liverpool-based ‘Prince’ is known to have traded at Calabar.