The Daalder Collection of Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment, after 2007
Headpiece from Turkmenistan

Headpiece from Turkmenistan

This remarkable and rather rare headpiece, called serajna, appears infrequently on the market, though it is well enough documented – notably but not uniquely – in Dieter and Reinhold Schletzer, Alter Silberschmuck der Turkmenen (1983), especially on p. 210 ff. It is made of silver (finely decorated), with carnelians (those on the discs are intaglios) and turquoises; and when worn it is attached to a large structure above the head, facing the onlooker. The diameter of each curved disc is as much as 18 cm, and the total width of the ornament is 44 cm. It comes from Carsanga, in the far east of Turkmenistan, close to both Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. We purchased it a number of years ago from an antiques dealer in Amsterdam who did not know what the object was.

Headdress (Tepelik) from Turkey

Headdress (Tepelik) from Turkey

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

Turkoman Disk

Turkoman Disk

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

Crown from Tibet

Crown from Tibet

The crown which is the main component of the piece, at the top, was probably originally used to decorate the head of an image. Michael Backman’s example in the bottom photo is captioned “Gilt Copper & Rock Crystal Ganapati (Tsog Dak or Ganesh), Nepal/Tibet, 19th century.” Our crown apparently came to be separated from the… Continue Reading