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.

caligraphy Yomud

detail of caligraphy (?)
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  • it says " sharif, year 1284....boukhara..."

    it seems as if a legal mint coin was hammered on the jewel's body....can you confirm.

    this is a trick i have recently noticed on some new jewel copies in morocco....the coin acts as a genuine hallmark misleading buyers.
  • The coin seems to have the same gilt and decoration as the rest, doesn't look like a coin that was in circulation or a coin at all, but a mark that was done on a piece of metal much like the applied bits that were used to create the pattern.  what year is 1284? I will look it up. That also makes sense since the place was Bukhara that these were used. 

  • I tried to find conversion on line can not. I found the conversion for 1292-8 as 1877 so this is a bit earlier?  let me know if you know the Gregorian date conversion for this .. it's helpful 

  •  I found the date finally as Feb 11 1868 it's possible as it looks this old but then I never found one with a date and have had several of these larger Yomud pieces. 

  • yess linda it is around 1867-1868....now i can read it properly and it is definetely a coin..

    it reads " shareef. mint in 1867 in Bukhara"
    this is the regular sentence found on almost all islamic coinage.

    i am not aware if old hallmarks from this region used to mimick local coinage.....but that really looks like one of the recent tricks i witnessed it to be done in morocco.

    somehow all the old hallmarking tools were lost or destroyed by authorities as they introduce new hallmarks....so local unscrupulous smiths are using old coins to get the work done!!!!

    we seriously need someone here with a strong background on central asian hallmarking traditions...maybe ypu know someone ?

    i lack knowledge in the hole of central asian jewelry but i find it remarkable to notice same technique as in morocco.
  • Hi, well if it was done as  a trick, it was done at least 40 years ago as this piece has been within a collection that long. I knew the person who owned it and how long she had it. 

    The time period and style also go along with other dated items I have had although there is a series of bodies that are same so the question is that either they were all made in the last 50 or so years and as a fraud A or B they were made in a workshop and put together for special occasions to commemorate or gift to certain people. For example the Karnate of Kokland was unified by the Russians in 1868 so something like this could have been made then, like other examples of large pieces dated to the Emir of Bukhara's reign and year either people were getting married, or as tribute etc.  Persia officially recognized Russia's anex of Chorizm with the treaty of Akhul and some of these pieces could have been made as gifts etc.  In this case the Yomud example using or sharing a body with Daalder's piece that was made for Persian and or Bukharan market,  would also fall into same group. Either as you say made later, and or as a real  antique piece.  So far I and other dealers have handled many large scale pieces either of Yomud design sharing body types with Uzbek design,  enameling (out of the caucuses or Russian work, with hall marks as such) and also with over lay work of Daghestan and Georgian jewelers. see one example of Daalder's piece.  I can show many examples of differing body styles being adapted with overlay work of another culture .. I recognize this as either being workshops that were set up using jewelers of differing skill set and commissioned for various special projects. or B this whole large group of monumental pieces was effectively done as a ruse by jewelers more recent and put on the market from various sources. Some private and purchased as real pieces as in my case , and or by vendors that were involved in this fraud. The pieces look antique and not new on inspection so my feeling is that they are all old and were made specifically for special clients and not used or on the market as in regular silver shops for people to use and wear. They all have use on them and manufactured in the way antique pieces are and not the way items that were made in the 70's are done as with several Kazakh cuffs, Afghan items or even the wave of newer Turkoman jewelry that was passed off as old .  It is an area I have been collecting data on for a long time but am not conclusive as yet. 2505997298?profile=original

  • 2505995806?profile=original

  • The pieces published were collected in 1868 are also monumental in scale and are starting to show signs of this style of work , a combination of Yomud and Chorizm body style. 

  • let me see if the piece has hall marks any place.  Many other ones i have handled with more Bukharan influence of the design do have Russian hall marks.  There are also many more body styles besides this one including several that are similar to smaller versions to wear.  This has a smaller counter part as well in smaller versions. 

  • fascinating Linda. thanx for all of these references and pictures.

    needless to say again that i dont have your expertise on central asian pieces and i must confess that i am not too keen on jewels from this area but i like to have a gaze on beautifully mastered pieces of art....and fortunately we are a bunch of members here able to read arabic!!!

    so good that you posted this piece so we can have some brainstorming....ny favourite activity.

    again you know more than anybody here that outta there there is a small crowd of smiths and dealers ruining our shared passion....Sarah, Hillary, Ait and others are doing a great job regarding moroccan fakes....Hillary has even spotted a workshop based in tiznit in south Morocco who was specialised in forging kabyle pieces
    ....
    Hopefully if you search your library and inspect carefully the piece we may proof wrong...if not then you should be careful on people you buy from.....they should be banned from this field
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