Over the last six months or so I have noticed a number of eBay auctions of beautiful Yemeni silver jewelry in traditional styles, which I think may actually be new production. I personally am deeply attracted to Yemeni silver and I would love to support contemporary Yemeni jewelers working in traditional designs, so that the art form continues. I would like to share some of the images from the auctions for discussion here to see if others think I am right. The sticky part is that the jewels have been sold as antique.
The auctions are over so the discussion cannot influence the outcome and I won't link to the auctions directly. Question: is this kind of discussion allowed? I don't want to do anything against the terms of service.
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If a silversmith is reproducing these very intricate and beautiful pieces, then it is taking them weeks and months just to produce one piece.
To add antiquing to new silver, liver of sulphur is applied to make the silver look old - it adds a blackened look and can be rubbed off to any degree with a silver cloth.
ann said:
Thelma said:
Lynn, I do not think their was any doubt that they are from Yemen. The question was whether they were old or new. What it does show though is that there are skillful jewellers and who do take care in details and the ones who are working a bit careless. With the pieces you showed it was also clearly visable who worked with care and who did it rough. Like Marjorie in her book and what you also observed, so lucky that there are young silversmith who love to make them and still do. In Ethiopia silver and gold are sold by the weight and the work per gram is paid better on the gold than with the silver. So all in all very good if Ethnic jewellery designers or lovers use the traditional pieces mixed in with new ideas. Keeps an old skill going and appreciated.
Lynn you did well in getting some points going. Good work. Gr. Ingrid
Here is the face veil that sold with one of these lots. To me, a strong clue that even if the jewels are contemporary they come from Yemen.
Thank you all for your thoughts! I will add a few details on why I think these pieces are from Yemen, regardless of age. They were sold in auction lots that included traditional Yemeni daggers and a headdress/face veil from Sanaa with the big tie-dyed eyes on the front. The latter sold for very little and I think there is hardly any market for it, so no reason to fake it. If I count up Marjorie's mentions she has found dozens of jewelers still working in traditional silver techniques (though obviously this is much reduced from mid century and earlier.) So, this is plausible to me. It's also plausible that a modern jeweler will have access to baltic amber and such in contemporary Yemen.
Regarding cleaning I also clean my pieces and sometimes polish them too. I like gray patina but I really do not like yellow/brown patina and I remove it. Thelma if you would like to clean filigree I have found the best solution if the jewel can take immersion in water is a commercial ultrasonic machine, which will clean like magic without abrasion in 1 minute. Only the commercial ones work this well.
Dear Ingrid, Yes, I agree, there is a strong case for wearable silver jewellery to be shiny and clean. This is perhaps more difficult for Yemeni filigree jewellery, since old and delicate filigree catches the dirt and is really difficult to clean. I use a toothbrush and water with washing up detergent. But old filigree still retains a little of the sand and dust which has long accumulated. So this could be another way of judging age?!! But for other pieces which are too big to wear ... well I still like to clean them a little to bring out their original spirit ... the vision that their maker and their original owner might have seen. By doing this I have learned a lot about the way in which parts of Turkoman jewellery flash and dazzle in an amazing way. A revelation.
Ait I always thought that the black, red and pink corral was harvest from the Red Sea, concerning the pieces from Yemen and Ethiopia, but I learned through this ethnic jewels site that it mostly was traded in from the Mediterenian Sea. What do you think about the black corral. As Yemen and Egypt has or had a lot of it. Not in Ethiopia. Black was not a color liked in Ethiopia. Like black morning clothes came into fashion after 1945. Traditionally the highlanders used their shawls (shammas) different way of wearing the borders to show they are in morning.
Thank you. Gr. Ingrid.
I am one of the sellers who clean my pieces, because I strongly believe that one does not want the body grease etc. of another person on ones skin. One does loose the dark grey patina but as is the case it is mostly dirt which comes of. because the softness and rounded edges of wear remains and the proper dark grey will be back on the silver soon enough when wearing. (from the body heat and the air polution).
I know of a chemical which was used in Addis Ababa by a dealer with the new silver and he called it French patina, which gave it a blackness in the depts. But there again the sharpness remained.
I also know about the burying in the ground but that was or is mostly done with wooden items. Like also wooden bowls were also kept in the manure pit. (sorry not a nice idea but to age the wood).
Thelma said:
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