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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Stunning bracelets! They are the styles that are often worn by the Rashaida. Where did you find them and how did you get them so clean and shiny?
Betty, you are right. These are RasAida anklets and bangles .Strange that my text was not printed,I had written a whole story about them. Shows I am not provicient with a computer. Anyway, These pieces are only worn by them. I have a whole collection. Remember I lived in Ethiopia for many years and the dealers who go into those areas come to you, or shopowners called me whenever they got a new arrival and I could choose.
To clean them as any other piece, we boiled them with detergent and sold several times and the last boil with lemon. This we did because it is very soiled with dirt,oil and butter so if it is to be worn, you do not want all this. Finally we brushed them with the jewellers brush no.0. To keep them up you can use a silver polish cloth.
What do other people think?
Eileen, I myself do not think so,because it is not an excavated item. It is and was meant to be worn. The wearing soften the hardness of new silver and gives it a warm glow. Who wants to wear somebody else's dirt? The way I see it, the beauty lays in the workmanship and than if not shown the beauty of silver what is the use of making it from silver? Nickel does not have the warm glow. .
I share your opinions. I regularly clean my newly acquired jewellery, with a number of very limited exceptions, when the Patina adds to the Beauty of a Piece. But in General, I prefer to wear it clean. Some People have another opinion on this, which is ok for me - I accept it too.
Each to their own. No problem.
Very nice! In my opinion the ones on the right look Yemeni to me and the left anklet (?) southern Egypt. And like Betty says worn by the Rashaida, but also the Egyptian woman did wear them. I only one time saw a woman wearing those near Dahkla oasis. But this is about 8 years ago.
Hi Harald, it could very well be that you saw them in Egypt. Like you said, this type of etnic jewellery travels. I have seen them also on photos from India and some nickel ones where the owner claims they came from Indonesia. As I wrote to Betty, in Ethiopia these anklets are worn by the RasAida, a nomadic etnic group,originating from Yemen. They roam the area from the Danakil ,Eritrea to the Sudan around the Red Sea. Left is the anklet and the two on the right armbands worn high on the upper arm. The Harrar and Hararque do also wear the armband in a smaller version and definitely made in Ethiopia. I think that the origin of all these lays in India and through the trade route went via Yemen,Eritrea(Ethiopia) ,Sudan and up. Were the local jewellers started copying them each adding their own caracteristics. As I have noticed Indian often more refined and more crude in East Africa.
I have been to expositions of ethnic jewellery were many bracelets were described as Eqyptian, India or so what the case may be and I do have the same ones but than from Ethiopia. So it very much it seems claimed by the owners depending were they were purchased and all true.
Hope to hear your thought on it. Gr. Ingrid.
About travelling of jewellery - (Ingrid's comment below), I have bought items that were definitely bought in Ethiopia (e.g. anklet or bracelet) and several People said, that this type is from Yemen...
Thank you for your info Ingrid.
Descriptions of jewelry is often not right because jewelry travels so much that people get mixed up thinking it belongs to the country were they bought something. In Morocco some dealers were absolutely sure that certain big silver beads from Yemen were made in Morocco by Moroccan silversmith's. Even when I showed them the signature on some of those beads (made by famous Yemeni smiths) they kept saying those were Moroccan seals. Also on exhibitions you see a lot of mistakes made sometimes made in haste sometimes in not knowing.
But, as you state, the same designs are used in different places. Like for instance, bracelets and anklets from Gujarat and Oman look very much a like, not strange when you think about migrating people from Baluchistan etc. to Oman.
It makes collecting and trying to fiend clues about jewelry (or other items) so interesting.