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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Very nice details, especially on the little ending knobs!
Thanks Eva! The pins as thick as the average pencil. Can you imagine the holes these put into the clothing? When worn the pin tips extend past the shoulder on the average person.
that is what I always wonder- these thick pins make enormeous holes into the clothes! Unless the fabrics are woven so loose that no holes are being made. Our type of fabrics (tissues) it would destroy completely.
Yes, the pin basically destroys the cloth...the ladies re-use the same hole in their houlies with the same pin all the time. As you can imagine, this is one of the reasons that the use of the khlal, especially these large ones, has diminished. I have seen even larger khlal with longer pins than these! The smaller lighter pins are definitely now preferred, but they don't have the same visual impact as these super-sized models.
A friend (who has spent far more time than me in Tunis) told me he thought these were replacement pins. This is not surprising since these rings are probably 100 years old, and replacement of pins on fibulae is a common repair.
@that is interesting, they call their dress also houlie? In Mali they call them "howli" too, but not in all languages.