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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Comments
What a great item!!! I am really happy to see it! They have used different materials for these pendants. I have e.g.. a big one in brass - also old. The small ones I have (as pendant or as part of a hairpin) are gilded silver. However they are so old and used, that the gold has been weared off a lot. It all depends, some were gilded, others were not (but silver) and others again were made of brass. I have an old old single earring from the Wolo Province (from the Oromo people) that was made of silver and copper mix something I have never seen before. It has a beautiful silver colour with red touch. I love it because of that very much. Other pendants are made of other alloys, e.g. a Harar pendant made of silver-nickel, like many Ethiopian Coptic crosses (silver or silver-nickel or nickel). To me the round ones on your picture look as if they had once been gilded. I must look again at the closer pic. However, regardless of the material, it is a wonderful necklace and I envy you for it..Congrats!
That`s really super information, Eva. Thank you so much. Have you shown a photo of your Wolo earring? I`d love to see it.
I have recently developed a greater interest in Ethiopian traditional jewellery and I`d like to learn more.
Ok I enclose here a photo of the Oromo Earring (Wolo province) but the special colour tone does not show on the photo. Also I enclose a scan from Angela Fisher's Africa Adorned book showing a pair of these earrings plus another pair (which I was lucky to find and buy two days ago (not yet received).
Here is the photo from Africa Adorned by Angela Fisher: a pair of such Oromo earrings (I only have a single one -the one showed below) plus the crescent shaped also Oromo earrings that I just bought (not yet received). Would love to have the hairpin showed there too..........but have not seen such anywhere.
crescent shaped Oromo earrings
Another thought: you said you are not sure whether the centres of your pendants are gold washed or brass. If they are silver as main material, it cannot be brass. Brass is a minor material. If it is silver and a goldcoloured material on top partly worn off, it must be gold.
Fabulous, Eva! I`ve been meaning to buy Africa Adorned for such a long time. This could be my spur to do it.
Those Oromo earrings are completely new to me.
Ethiopia is a many-ethnics country. Therefore it has a wide variety of ethnical objects. While the north is mainly Christian, the southern provinces are Islamic and there are also quite a number of animistic ethnies, e.g. the Mursi (famous for the lip-disks), and many others. So the variety of ethnical objects in Ethiopia is immense. The book "Africa Adorned" is great, but the chapter on Ethiopia is not very big....... (just to have added this). Some Ethiopian ethnies use also Aluminium to make jewellery. There is also a book on this "Aluminium Adorned" by a Dutch named Rudolf de Ruijter).
I bought the book below on my last trip to Marrakech. When I can tear myself away from my computer, I`ll look through it again.
I have never seen aluminium as a lowly material. As far as I`m concerned It`s what is done with it that matters.
I was aware of ethnic diversity in Ethiopia but also recognise that I have much to learn still
Frankie: I am sorry, I was just carried away with enthusiasm.........sorry, if I talked too much..... I am still learning too........(I always discover something new, like this great necklace of yours. Have seen the pendants, one or two, or three, but not the whole necklace with the beautiful triangles and squares combined. Since you have the book "Aluminium Adorned" already I took the pic out. it was too big anyway.
Hey Eva! What are you sorry about? Myself, I can get obsessive!
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