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
Fantastic piece. beautiful Peter. I admire your collection and its variety I gather that these are old.
Dear Mustafa; Many thanks for your message. Yes, these are very old - at least 100 years! Some of the coins are +/-150 years old. With kind regards. Peter
Very nice ornaments Peter! Thanks for showing! The silver looks very good.
Awesome pieces and totally new to me. I really like the hair clips, too. Do you think they are as old as the main ornament?
Dear All; Many thanks for your messages. Yes, Betty, the hair clips are as old as the remaining set. Hair clips are not new to the region, however, they are usually the first things to be lost as they are petite... The lady who owned this set took obviously very good care of it and so did her heirs, who sold it to the dealer in Amman. According to the dealer, such Palestinian pieces are all but pretty much gone. It is very very rare to come by such a piece. Also, the price for such pieces is extremely high and rapidly increasing. Hence, if you have a chance to buy a Palestinian piece, you should not hesitate but purchase it even though it is expensive. The value of such pieces is increasing very fast as there were never many made in the first place and those which have survived the wear and tear are mostly with collectors and some with museums! When I visited the opening of Mrs Kawar's exhibition in Amman, there were many ladies (definitely from the upper very wealthy circles of Amman), who are originating from Palestine. They all have a great affection to their past and therefore, take great pride in keeping their most important pieces, despite not wearing them anymore. Several of the ladies have told me that they own a Shatweh (Bethlehem head gear). When my friend, a known silver dealer in Amman mentioned to a Bethlehem lady who owns 5 Shatwehs, that I would be interested to purchase one of them, she started to cough and walk away from us!!! Below is a photo of a Bethlehem dress with Shatweh and the famous 7-souls necklace, which is part of the Bethlehem costume. Such a costume was made for the wedding of the bride and thereafter worn on special occasion. On the photo next to the costume, you can see a lady in an everyday dress on the old streets of Bethlehem. Such scenes can now unfortunately no longer be seen. With kind regards. Peter