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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I thought this was an interesting reminder that there are a lot of "imitation" pieces out there. While these are not designed to deceive anyone except an audience of tourists enjoying a performance, there is always a possibility that these pieces end up on the collector's market. I picked them up, and there is a definite difference in weight and color compared to the pieces fabricated from real silver.
Wonderful Edith.
I like the way your are reporting live from Tunis like a detective. Very helpful and informative material
Thank you
It is very interesting that they are still using old shapes and forms in folkloric dances....though it seems there a drop in diversity compared with the past days where every single city had its own distinctive adornment......
Again very interesting
Thanks Ayis! I agree that the forms seem to have been reduced to their most common denominators...but then it is for the benefit of the tourists! The assaba is particularly fanciful, and I have never seen a real one that looks like this, have you? The metal smith seems to have borrowed motifs from the tigar ornaments to make something of his own invention.
The assaba seems to be a local copy of what is considered to be a fancy contemporary crown, only adding some khamsa dangles to make it look more local!!
The same happened in Morocco, where we used to have hinged crowns slowly giving way to this kind of post renaiscannce european crown, reminescent of european imperial18th/ 19th century jewelry
The normal scheme that has happened all over north africa n the local jewelry trends.