Cast in a white metal and perforated so that they could be hung at a shrine, these two limbs are Roman Catholic ex-votos. They were acquired sometime during the French rule of Algeria (1830–1962), and signify the presence of Christianity in a Muslim land.

 

Christianity first arrived in North Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. It was eclipsed by Islam during the 7th century, and was not reintroduced in Algeria until 1838. As part of the process of French colonisation a diocese was established in Algiers, the capital of Algeria. Immigrants from France, Italy and Spain soon arrived in the country, and a large cathedral named Notre Dame d-Afrique (Our Lady of Africa) was built overlooking the Bay of Algiers.