A digital archive showcasing the extensive collection of jewellery and adornment images shared on the former Ethnic Jewels Ning site over the years. These images have significantly enriched discussions on cultural adornment and its global dispersion.
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Nice collection Eva! Thanks for showing them again. I also love your favourite set best!
I also own a pair made of "gilded" metal alloy, but I don't think it's real gilding. Must take a pic...
Hi Betty - thanks. Yes please, do take a Picture. I would be happy to see it. I have another one, just one pendant made of brass and bigger, But it is not so nice, I wonder if the guilding is real on These, I have no idea. The one at right bottom was very beautiful when it arrived (silver, almost no guilding), but it turned greyish and I am afraid of cleaning it with something stronger than Soap.....
Hi Eva, I see here four lovely sets. Each has something to say for itself.
Upper set left: Lovely pieces specially the boxes, very good silver and so soften down from wear the ring of a bit lesser workmanship, but I love the warmth of the pieces.
Bottom left, High skill workmanship and carefully executed in shape and filegree work. The Ring is outstanding. Now I do see the silver shine coming through with the ring, I do suspect it be to silver with a very strong layer of guilding.
Upper right, your favorite; really beautiful,strong and warm, the workmanship a bit free of hand.
The bottom right. good workmanship especially the fillegree, it is silver mixed with copper(quite a bit of copper green molding which is sometimes hard to get rid of. You need a copper metal brush to get that removed. It often comes through when put away slightly damp. It lost its guilding because it was poorly done (perhaps too short in the gold bath).The green rust coming through is because of the copper mix they have used. That is sometimes hard to get rid of, mostly with brushing it with the jeweller's brush and than to make sure it is completely dried out.
Now these sets are many times silver fillegree (front with a nickel box at the back) Because they thought who will notice if well guilded.
Sets like these when in gold can often be also with instead of boxes they are Golden coins of King George the V of England. And when in gold it often is only the fillegree front without the box in the back, just a flat shield. This of course, the minimise the gold use. Gold in Ethiopia and Eritrea was sold by weight. 18Kt.
Alright did I cover the question?
Gr. Ingrid
hi Ingrid, thanks a lot for your Information. Very helpful and interesting, especially that the one at the bottom left is high skill workmanship (because it is brass to be seen at the backside, while all others have coinsilver-nickel at the backside). Also very interesting that the one at bottom right is mixed with copper. It turned like that during one year of storage in my place (when it arrived it had no green). I was quite disappointed when it turned like this. The one on top left (very worn) was the most expensive, but then they come from different sources. The one on bottom right was the nicest when it arrived (until it turned greenish which was quite a disappointment). What do you mean by a copper metal brush to remove the greenish stuff (a brush made of copper or it is just named copper brush?) Wouldn't it remove the rest of the guild, this worries me a bit.
Beautiful and very sunny (It has been raining here all day!). Must have taken a while to gather all these little lovely sweeties!
Very attractive! Lovely picture of you, Eva.
@Thank you Chantal and Betty. I came across the first one in 2011...... that is when I started collecting SLOWLY Ethiopian things. I wish I had such a thing as described as "jewellers brush" by Ingrid. The Grey pair worries me a Little, because it was so beautiful, when I bought it.I have not kept it in a humid place, especially during heating season it is often even too dry. (?). THe photo of me wearing it I included because it really Looks like Gold ........(I know it isn't). And finally,Chantal, we have had a very sunny day, dream weather! Sorry about the rain ...... I think it will come here tomorrow
Eva, lovely elegant picture again. You really give it charm and style. Now about the cleaning, I am going to try it out on some of my guilded pieces to use the copper wire brush. I do not think it will harm it as we have done so all the years in Ethiopia. But to be sure I will do so tomorrow night after my return from work. You know if you do not have access to buying these brushes they should be also available at house-hold stores (like a supermarket) looking for the shelves selling shoe brushes (like the brushes for sued shoes.)
Now about the corrosion of the telsums it is mostly because of the mixture the silver with copper and if the pieces get in touch with water and arenot properly dried out it can happen. When cleaning telsums you either lay them on the radiator to dry them out, or a couple of days in the sun, because they also have to be dry in the inside and water can slip in while washing them. Do not worry Eva, we will get there. Gr. Ingrid.
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