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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This is from a day of gathering at the show. It is getting harder to find old ethnic pieces.
Toya, i m sure you have the biggest colection of khamssas in the world :-)
i like the venitian beads and the muria necklace, it is actualy to find in all the horn of africa, are the beads filled with wood or ceramic ??
Ait- It is hard to tell what the beads are filled with. The substance is hard, so maybe clay ceramic. Yes, my obsession with Khamsas is out of control. I selected 10 khamsas that I wanted to buy but when I learned the prices I was only able to purchase these two.
Lovely finds, Toya!
Like Ait, I am curious about the inner life of the Muria - I have one that seems to have entirely hollow beads, and a few single beads that are filled with a clay-like substance. Yours seems to be quite old - like it a lot. Your Khamsas are also very beautiful!
Thank you Betty. It was your beads and also Ingrid's that sparked my interest in the muria necklaces. The seller had three of these strands and all were worn through in the same way. This strand was in the best condition.The beads are heavy, so all are filled with something. If not, I'm sure the beads would have collapsed after so much use.
Lovely, lovely lovely collection! Well done - and I know the feeling of wanting to buy more and then finding out the exhorbitant price.
The beads are filled with ressin. They also can be hollow if the beads are made of a thicker layer of silver. Mostly they are filled to prevent denting. Like I wrote earlier, if hollow they are mostly from the town Harrar, and filled from the countryside,Harrarque(province) as farmer's wife often do not have too many pieces to wear, so they wear them daily and they do a lot of physical work (African Farmer) and so they need more protection. In the case of Toya's Muria I suspect it also to be of a good quality silver looking at the worn through condition. Good silver is softer than one with more nickel mixed in it. Actually it is very well made ,looking at the beads themselves and especially the hole decoration so carefully done and also decorated. In all work of a skilled jeweller.
Beauties, wonderful photo, wonderful colour combination!
Great finds Toya! Yes, you're definitely the khamsa queen :) And I love the muria beads - they have such character.