The heart shape of this object is not by itself to do with love, as Westerners are apt to think. Indeed, Elmira Gyul has suggested to us that the shape should be thought of as representing a pregnant woman. In that sense, of course an association with “love” would be appropriate. However, others point out… Continue Reading
This pair of heavy silver bracelets are Turkoman, made in the in Kazakh style. These styles were blended because the Kazakhs lived with the Turkoman and others in Afghanistan. Linda pointed out that similar ones were made for several more decades and simply described as being from Kazakhstan. We remember seeing several in the 1980s.… Continue Reading
This Turkish headdress, or tepelik, was attached and worn on top of a fez or similar hat-type structure. Please note the exquisite workmanship of the silver-gilt around the central turquoise bead. This piece is really Turkish, not just “Ottoman,” i.e. made anywhere in the empire over which the Turks presided. This is even so to… Continue Reading
This Turkoman disk was collected in Persia, namely in Gonbad-e-Kabus, which is situated in Golestan near the southeast corner of the Caspian Sea and in the heart of Yomud territory. If you look at the back, the piece has four places for attachment, so the ornament could have been made for the bridle of a… Continue Reading
The ornamental frame of this tortoiseshell comb is made from gilt open-work silver showing flowers on each side. Three swiveling corals grace the centre of each flower. Continue Reading
This belt is from Kubachi, Daghestan. Literature: Jewellery from the Orient: Treasures from the Dr. Bir Collection, p. 275, shows two belts with just such a semi-circular clasp as specifically coming from Kubachi. Kubachi produced large numbers of enamelled pieces of jewelry. The Daghestani smiths were fabled for their fine work, which we see in… Continue Reading
This belt ornament was widely assumed to be an Islamic face mask worn horizontally, until collector Howah Chen found several examples of the object online demonstrating that it was attached vertically over a cloth belt to make it look like a buckle. The back has some circlets etc that enabled the “buckle” to be attached… Continue Reading
The coins on this 730-gram chest piece, or pectoral, are dated 1897. The finely decorated silver is covered in gilt and colored glass stones. According to Raisa Ismailova, writing on Facebook and on the website Ethnic Jewels, these are often thought to originate from Azerbaijan, but – while they were undoubtedly worn there – they… Continue Reading
The Nonyas were the Malay wives of men who had migrated from China. Continue Reading