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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thanks for showing, great piece, I wonder if it went back to Morocco? Grossly under valued at estimate. Just goes to show the good pieces are strting to bring the right prices however if it were not for the gold and the bling of stones, it would not have garnished same attention. Many grand silver pieces have come on the market and usually end up going far below conceived value or bought in.
I have no idea who bought it, Linda. I agree with you that the auctioneer under-valued and under-estimated this, though I think that is also what they are doing deliberately at the moment, as otherwise they'd put off the buyers, in a vulnerable market. But you are right: some of the best piece (in the art market generally, actually) ARE bringing substantial prices. However, the buyers are very selective ... This is an extraordinarily good piece, we agree, and the market had no trouble recognising that. It is in essence in good condition, full of gold and as you say the bling of stones, and it is early too - so if you cannot win with a piece like this, in a good public sale, things would have to be extraordinarily grim at a level beyond what they are already!
When posting on Facebook I notice again and again that it is the coloured pieces that people really click "like" on, and as you say, those which are made of silver only, even if very good, attract much less attention. I do think that this may show a certain superficiality on the part of the public, but it could also be that in depressing times they want to see something that really brings them joy!!
Most probably ended in some persian gulf state private collection. Some lebanese middle men here in paris are roaming auctions in search of islamic work of art. They have "carte blanche" for prices and they buy anything of certain quality and age! No one can compete with them!
If i am not mistaken this crown was sold among other stunning old moroccan gold pieces, all of them seem to come from the same origin and made by the same smith somewhen long ago!!! Some years ago a similar situation occured happened at christies i guess who auctionned the moroccan TAZI family gold jewelry. A local rich family, who for the first time have choosen LONDON over PARIS to sell their estate.....A dicreet move.
This crown is undoubtely coming from the moroccan royal court, maybe not the king or close princesses but not far either!!
One can guess that for some obscure reason (heritage, bakruptcy, economic crisis....) the owner decided to part with these jewels but to avoid attracting undesirabe attraction, he avoided local moroccan market and PARIS auction houses (which are virtually connected in terms of high level moroccan antiques) and headed towards LONDON.
Oddly, hammer price is low enough to encourage moroccan new rich to buy and it would not be odd if this piece has actually ended up in MOROCCO rather than in any middle eastern or western private collection
Bottom line, these jewels are really really top notch and exceed in terms of techniques, materials and art involved most of the published or or mueseum pieces i know of!
I might add that the arabic iscription which is "might belongs the ALLAH and his messenger" is usually the kind of phrases that were used in old islamic coins as a "creed" to attest faith.
Seldom seen on jewels except if they were belonging to head of states!!!
IN private jewelry one can often see inscribed phrases such as "belongs to the family.....or the Mr.....or Ms..." "May it bring joy......health......prosperity...."
This is definetely a piece that have adorned a king's spouse!!!
The enamel is perfectly conserved and attest to a great care through time and not much wearing oppositt to gold pieces of lower provenance which were usually lent to modest bride that could not afford to buy for theu wedding "a very respected social tradition"
No wonder the hammer price, if the buyer was aware of the provenance!!
Thank you very much for all these informative comments, ayis, which make good sense to me. As for provenance, Christie's said nothing. I must say I found that very odd - it almost made one feel that they had something to hide. It is perfectly conceivable that the seller did not want Christie's to mention what the provenance was rather than that he or she did not know it. As you say, the level of splendour and workmanship is what one would associate with royalty. A wish to hide the provenance would be quite compatible with the idea of choosing London as the outlet - both moves would ensure that people would have to come to their own decisions and that there would be minimal publicity.
There were so many private collectors of items like this especially early in our century all over the world. Back then collectors collected anything and everything beautiful or were given items as gifts of tribute etc. Some are still doing that although it's lesser to an extent now as people tend not to be interested in as much of the history and or travel to buy things but are more interested in the interaction of public trade to re inforce their wealth position.
I knew a man living in NY who was a dealer but also himself incredIble gold Moroccan jewelry (he collected everything) and he had to put up for sale several pieces that came to auction in London. He purchased them a long time ago when prices wee much more affordable yet one always had to have more money to buy these things. A patron of the arts and famous female collector of jewelry and furniture recently died and it all went up for auction as the family needed to split the assets, sell the houses.
As with several clients I know, they buy all kinds of incredible items not necissarily from a particular region and not only jewelry but buy things because they are beautiful works of art. Many people also collecting Islamic art in general buy jewelry. There are also many many private sales that go on and only when things come to the auction market do people realize the prices being paid for such pieces. I find it only unfortunate that most people buy into gold items only as valuable and wanting a piece of nobility pays off for investors. And yes there are many Islamic heads of states forming collections and do have buying parties out looking for anything incredible like this.
There are many fine pieces that are as equal in quality in lesser materials or of silver that are also as rare or more valuable from the point of view of artistry and culture. It is hard to understand value when so much of specialty buying is not at the auction level where people can have it confirmed. For years now many special peices have sold for amounts that exceed this and no one would be the wiser. And the Islamic buying market is something that has been prevelent for quite a while and is a market that unless you have that connection you are not easily able to penetrate even having the goods. IT is hard to explain this when people are looking to start a new collection, have the money to do so but then the precense of investment potential is not evident clearly from sales to the public that are published prices. Even at shows of these things that are for sale, one has to take the effort to ask the price and or see tags or price sheets to get an idea otherwise there is commerce going on in a very silent manner of these items. In many cases most uninitiated would be surprised at the variation of pricing and even today the variation of pricing on ebay for example. One has to have a good level of understanding of the pieces place in it's category to be comfortable paying for anything whether it's a few hundred or many thousands. It is unfortunate that dealers also most often have to be descrete about topics like this also especially after something has sold. It's too bad frankly that it has taken this long for the category to be fully realized however it allows all of us to be out there buying and from the point of view of myself that can no longer afford so many of the items , makes it that much nicer when one finds something that are still buyable.
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I am very much in agreement with you on these issues, Linda. It is quite true that many seem to think that a piece of jewellery will automatically be "better" if made of gold and other precious material than of silver, leave alone cheaper materials. As well, I find, in posting for more than 4000 viewers on our Facebook "Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment" page, that colour is always very highly appreciated. I must admit that I like colour too, but it saddens me when I have more difficulty creating interest for a piece that is plain silver, and often can arouse hardly ANY interest when I show people beautifully crafted adornment made from e.g. shells only. The other problem which you mention as a major one has to do with the operation of the MARKET in ethnic jewellery, and I wholly agree with you that that continues to be very problematic. I love ethnic jewellery passionately, as you and others know, yet I can hardly persuade myself - and don't - that we are buying it for investment. For one thing I know that much ethnic jewellery which does get sold at auction obtains low prices there, which to a private buyer is a deterrent: for the harsh truth is that the absence of a strong auction market would make it harder to sell one's pieces if obtaining money, as an investor, is one's first objective. The ethnic jewellery market is eccentric, not a big commercial presence, as is the case with e.g. the market for high quality tribal sculpture from Africa or Oceania. In those areas, there are more collectors with considerable financial clout from a whole variety of countries, and it is much easier to find out just what one's work of art is likely to fetch as there is fare more public knowledge of prices obtained. So, although I don't buy tribal sculpture or artefacts for investment either, it is nevertheless the case that, in the cold light of day, I know that many objects of that kind which we own have greatly increased in value, and I can even often tell what sort of money they would fetch at auction, or what dealers would ask. What you are in essence reporting, for one thing, is that only a small number of pieces of ethnic jewellery gets sold at auction for high prices, and that others either are sold for good prices which the market as a whole does not know about, or are simply still selling for too little money. I would confirm all three of these points, in my experience. Also that - unsatisfactorily - this shows that there still is not yet a fully-fledged, developed market for ethnic jewellery. Yet, on the positive side, I think the interest is certainly growing, and considerably so. This, I guess, is partly because the time is ripe for such an interest, but also because the number of good books has increased and is still increasing, and because of website activity, such as that on this site, or Truus's and my Facebook page on ethnic jewellery and adornment. So I would think that the future may well improve levels of interest, knowledge, and show wider market participation and publicity, etc.
Hi I would like to add that I had intended before my mothers sickness and demise to start lecturiing on just such topics primarily to make potential collectors and or sellers aware of market value and variation of quality. I was asked to do this in Washington D.C for the bead society and hope I get a chance to put it together again.
Many dealers, or collectors can show pretty photos in books and talk about culture and history or expose their collections which is a part of what helps, but then not many really talk about conosourship and value, age , and market trends. I would tend to expose more of these topics in such smaller gatherings so that the information is let go of in an informative manner to guide people. I do not believe in hoarding knowledge or privatetizing prices in eductational terms. What happens in the higher priced segment is that many clients are seeking this privacy for many reasons and in one sense to also retain the ability to continue shopping without them being seen as too eager to pay particular pricing. As I am on both sides of the fence, ( a collector and also a dealer ) it works against me to publize pricing for those reasons, however I also feel it's my responsibility as one of the market leaders to set the records straight and use that information to make the pieces find their place in the art market. If serious prices were shown to exist as a norm ( which they do for a certain level of the market ) then this would be helpful to new buyers, as well as old collectors that want to feel certain about their investment. Many appraisels are also not open to the market that are done on jewelry of this nature. In fact in my country it is very hard to find people that know enough about the subject to be called in. I have in many cases been that person however the information is privalaged because of donation, tax reasons and or being that it's going to a public place, like a museum. Many dealers also do not like to have the burden of appraisel on goods being offered because it is something that also varies with each dealers buying market and one person selling same can not get what some one else can. I think when I have time, it is time to create this kind of lecture, or book. Not the silly books out on the market with things being evaluated for silly amounts that one has not seen in twenty or thirty years but actual records of pricing for things over the years to show gains, losses and variations. Many dealers and collectors would have to participate to have it be open ended information and not all are willing participants. I think actually someting of this nature would do wonders to aid with the air of the seriousness of this field and would encourage people of all spending brackets to be part of the picture.