Foulet Khamsa

Foulet Khamsa

by | Magic & Amulets

amulets and magic

Foulet khamsa: an amulet from Morocco

Published Dec 25, 2023

This piece is called a foulet khamsa. It’s an ornament from Morocco, and it carries a surprising connection in its name – one that is rarely explicitly addressed. So I’m spilling the beans: what is this jewel, where and how was it worn, and what does it mean?

A foulet khamsa from Morocco, with a bright green glass cabochon.

Foulet khamsa: what is it?

Foulet khamsa, also spelled fult khamsa, is a large pendant with four distinct lobes. You’ll see an example in the image above: click to enlarge it. The ornament is made of two pieces of sheet silver that have been embossed. In the centre is a green glass inset.

Normally, they would be in good silver, but the one I’m showing you here is in low-grade silver. It has been pretty banged up during it’s life: you see the dents, and it has a new loop soldered onto it.⁠ This piece has lived for sure!

Foulet khamsa: what does it really mean?

The spelling foulet is in French transliteration, because Morocco has long been colonized by the French. Click here to see how colonization still affects our understanding through things like spelling.

So what is that ‘foulet‘? It’s the Arabic fūl – yes, like the delicious dish fūl. It means ‘fava bean’, and its plural is fūlāt [1]. This piece of jewellery, too, is named after food! Click here to find out more on why that is not crazy – food is often used as metaphor in jewellery. So, foulet khamsa roughly translates to ‘Khamsa of Beans’ or ‘Bean Khamsa‘.

What is the relation between this ornament and a fava bean…? First, the four lobes of the ornament resemble fava beans in their shape. But throughout North Africa, fava beans carry additional significance. They are among the staple foods, but they also are considered to bring good luck. Because of their bright green appearance when they’re fresh, they are associated with growth, fertility, and in particular with produce of the earth. [2] The other image above is indeed of fresh, green fava beans: click to enlarge it and see how juicy these look!

‘Foulet Khamsa means ‘khamsa of beans’ or ‘bean khamsa’ – it’s an extra special khamsa‘

Foulet khamsa: how are they worn?

Pendants like these were worn on a necklace, or suspended from a belt. Eudel attributes this difference in wearing to regional preferences. He notes that women in Marrakech wear the foulet khamsa on their chest, as a necklace. Women in Tanger and more towards the coast, on the other hand, wore it attached to their belt. [3] Von Kemnitz writes that smaller ones were used as pendant, and larger examples as belt ornaments. [4] I think the reality is flexible as always, as there are examples of photographs showing women wearing quite sizeable pieces on a necklace.

Foulet khamsa: who would wear them?

Tanger, where Eudel saw them suspended as a belt ornament, is in the north of Morocco. Apparently the foulet khamsa was worn there in the early 20th century. Later books only refer to the southern part of the Atlantic coast, between roughly Essaouira and Tiznit. [5]

So, this ornament was popular along the coast. It disappeared in the north at some point, but continued to be popular along the southern Atlantic coast. The pieces made in Essaouira are among the finest decorated foulet khamsa in their intricate designs. The foulet khamsa was worn by both Muslim and Jewish women: its use is more regionally defined than by faith. [6]

How is this ornament a khamsa?

And now for the obvious question! Khamsa means ‘five’. This ornament has four lobes. So how is this a khamsa…?⁠ The trick is that these are called khamsa because of their entire design.

See that green glass inset in the centre? Together with the four circular details around it, that makes five. [7] Alternatively, if we interpret the lobes as bright green fava beans, the green glass in the center would make that five, too. However, not all foulet khamsa carry green glass: they are known with various other colours of glass, too, as well as semi-precious stones. [7]

It’s not always immediately obvious how the number 5 is worked into jewellery, but once you recognize the pattern, it’s easy to see!⁠ Click here to learn how to spot numerology in jewellery.

Foulet khamsa: a layered amulet

Some examples of the foulet khamsa stress this importance through additional hands integrated in their decoration. [9] The ornament pictured above may even have had additional hands, but they are too damaged to be sure. On the individual lobes, you may also find other forms enhancing their power, such as fish or birds. [10] The vegetal motifs on the ornament also reinforce the combination of the power of fava beans and the magic of the number five: a layered, beautiful amulet!

—

More posts on jewellery, amulets and magic? Browse them all here!

Join the Jewellery List and receive new articles, jewellery news and more in your inbox!

More background on amulets in jewellery from the Middle East and North Africa? Check out the course on Amulets & Charms!

—

References

[1] Already noted by Eudel 1906, Dictionnaire des Bijoux, p. 75. He adds that it also is used to indicate the nut in a firearm.

[2] Westermarck 1905, in his article Midsummer Customs in Morocco, mentions the use of fava beans to ensure a good crop in the coming harvest season (p. 36). Edmond Doutté 1909, Magie et Religion de l’Afrique du Nord, shares examples of fava beans used in festivities notably in Algeria.

[3] Eudel 1906, Dictionnaire des Bijoux, p. 75.

[4] Eva-Maria von Kemnitz 2023, Hand of Fatima, Brill Publishers, p. 51.

[5] As defined by Grammet 1998, De Juwelen, in: Magisch Marokko, p. 300. Von Kemnitz 2023, p. 50 also places these in southern coastal towns with Essaouira and Marrakech as its most important production centers. Rabaté & Goldenberg 1999, Bijoux du Maroc, p. 195 also mention the southern towns.

[6] They are for example also featured in A. Muller-Lancet, D. Champault & Y. Fischer (eds), La Vie Juive au Maroc, p. 131.

[7] Rabaté & Goldenberg 1999, Bijoux du Maroc, p. 195 mentions this explanation as well.

[8] Von Kemnitz 2023, Hand of Fatima, p. 49-51 for a description and materials used in the foulet khamsa. Here, only the khamsa in the name is addressed, and the significance of the fava beans left out.

[9] See Grammet 1998, De Juwelen, in: Magisch Marokko, p. 300 & 302 for an example, as well as Von Kemnitz 2023, p. 51.

[10] See Rabaté & Goldenberg 1999, Bijoux du Maroc, p. 197 for examples.

Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

THOBNA

THOBNA

by | Reviews

Palestinian dress research

THOBNA. Reclaiming Palestinian dresses in the diaspora

Published Dec 22, 2023

What power does a dress hold, personally, but also historically? Wafa Ghnaim’s second book THOBNA. Reclaiming Palestinian dresses in the diaspora investigates the memory of women through their dress. The result is a book that is personal and powerful, a study that sets a new standard for dress research.

The book 'Oman Adorned. A Portrait in Silver' shown with an Omani gold and silver necklace.

THOBNA: our dress

The title, THOBNA, means ‘our dress’. That reflects the viewpoint of this book: it is written by a Palestinian artist and scholar. In the introduction, Wafa shares her evolving points of view and understanding since Tatreez and Tea was published. THOBNA focuses on resistance embroidery in its historical and actual context.

Palestinian tatreez: flipping the perspective

THOBNA regards dress as living history (p. 37). The importance here is the realization that the woman creating and wearing the dress is central to its decoration and the story it shares. Tracing back embroidery only to its historic roots will only get you so far: it has always moved in sync with its people.

The first two chapters discuss that perspective. First, the dress is placed in the historical context of its people. In doing so, Wafa questions the usual method of describing dresses as ‘pre- or post 1948’, ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’. By following the wider context of the history of Palestinian people, she is able to identify a much more detailed development in dress styles, tied directly to circumstances and historical shifts.

Next, she traces the embroidery styles that have contributed to tatreez and dress as they exist today to deeper history in the wider geographical area of Southwest Asia. Discussing sources and the role that museums objects can play in this type of research, she then zooms in on dress styles from the 1850s onwards.

This is an incredibly important chapter to read. It blends together detailed experiences of reality after 1948 with artistic and resistance developments.

Dress research: ten portraits

Ten Palestinian dresses are analyzed in detail and serve as a sampler of how much more information may be learned from thorough dress study. In this chapter, Wafa identifies the maker of a dress as ‘Maker Once Known’ instead of ‘Unknown Artist’ – a beautiful way of flipping the perspective again, of acknowledging a maker whose name we no longer know, but whose story is preserved in her dress.

And there is so much to be decoded in these dresses. An example that resonated with me is a dress from the Gaza region (p. 71). It was altered several times, its changing fabrics indicating displacement and wear by different persons. Importantly here, Wafa includes the history of the dress during the time it was with its collector – these, too, may have altered dresses and as such obscuring parts of its Palestinian biography.

Tatreez: symbolism and colour by decade

As a result of her in-depth study, Wafa reflects on symbolism and shares her insights on how to date a thobe by its colour scheme. This latter chapter is very important for anyone studying dress, as it provides not only colour schemes per century and per region, but also explains how these came to be and how they remained associated with regional identities even after the 1948 depopulation of these regions.

The symbolism chapter in particular is another example of living history. For jewellery, I can’t stress enough that any given symbol may carry different meaning for different people in different timeframes. Symbolism is never static. For the meaning of patterns on a dress, THOBNA adds the crucial insight that these not only vary over time and geographically, but also per family. Every family has its own history, its own way of expressing, and that is reflected in the forms chosen. And that brings me to the value of knowledge and how we achieve it.

Knowledge: lived, learned, passed on

If I were to describe THOBNA in one word, it would be understanding of knowledge (okay, that’s three). Apart from knowledge of historical events, as outlined above, there is Elder knowledge or ancestral knowledge to incorporate in research. Tangible heritage is always accompanied by intangible heritage: stories, poems, songs, expressions and personal memories. But these are rarely included in research. even though they contribute a unique perspective on living heritage.

Knowledge comes, for cultural outsiders, also in the form of awareness. In the last three chapters, Wafa shares many detailed stitches, materials, how-to’s, patterns and their meaning with us, and guides us clearly and gently in how to respect these properly.

 

“May THOBNA provide an artistic means for you to study and learn about Palestinian resistance from our perspective”

THOBNA: integral dress research

Do not expect easy lists or clear-cut criteria in this book, although the thobe diagram, colour guides and patterns provided are very detailed. Rather, immerse yourself in the ever-evolving world of dress and its people. Studying THOBNA will allow you to develop a deeper understanding of the multifaceted world of Palestinian dress, as seen through the eyes of a Palestinian researcher and artist.

That is what makes this book stand out, too. It combines the perspectives of scholarly research, indigenous living heritage and the actual experience of the artist. It discusses dress from all these perspectives, and it does so in the past, present and future tense.

That is how it sets a new standard for dress research: there are so many details to take into account to properly reconstruct the narrative of the creators and wearers of dress that it needs all these perspectives, not just the art historical point of view.

If you are in any way involved in Palestinian dress, either as a curator or a collector, you will really want to read this book.

And now even more so, because THOBNA was published in the summer of 2023. On p. 91, we read:

‘THOBNA is a commitment to reclamation. Therefore, Chapter 9 focuses primarily on the patterns stitched during the First and Second Intifada, when Palestinian women used tatreez as an artistic expression worn on their bodies that held the world to account for turning a blind eye to the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, reiterating their right of return and asserting their undeniable need for freedom.’

Since then, the truth in these words has become shockingly clear once again.

More information on THOBNA. Reclaiming Palestinian dresses in the diaspora.

Title: THOBNA. Reclaiming Palestinian dresses in the diaspora. By Wafa Ghnaim, 2023. 189 pages, full colour, in English.

Published by The Tatreez Institute, Washington D.C.

Available with the author and on Amazon.

More on Wafa’s work can be found here on the Tatreez and Tea website.

I received the book as thank you for the crowdfunding, which I am proud to have supported.

—

Where can I find more on traditional jewellery from Southwest Asia and North Africa?

More book reviews of books on personal adornment? Browse them all here!

Never miss a thing on jewellery news? Join the Jewellery List and find them in your inbox each month!

Looking for background information on your jewellery? Have a look at the courses – there’s so much available on the world of the jewellery from North Africa and the Middle East!

—

Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

A Palestinian wuqaya

A Palestinian wuqaya

by | Objects

jewellery of Palestine

Traditional Palestinian headdress: wuqaya

Published Dec 20, 2023

This is a beautiful headdress from Palestine, called a wuqaya. It was worn in the area of Jerusalem and Ramallah. [1] It would be placed under the headveil, with the coin fringe showing on the forehead.⁠

Wuqaya: design and wear

In the image above (click to enlarge it) you’ll see how it is designed: a more or less square piece of cloth with a central embroidered panel. Below the chin, a series of chains and other coins dangle. The headdress has a beaded border in red and blue, and a double row of coins.⁠ According to Weir, this headdress was probably worn by girls [2].

Wuqaya: the coin fringe

The coins on this headdress may tell us a lot about the wearer herself, and the world she lived in.

The number of coins usually reflects the wealth of the wearer. That is because the silver in these coins used to be what made them valuable. From this tradition, the use of displaying coins became standard.

Also when the wearer was not that affluent: all of the coins on this particular headdress are imitation coins in brass. Note the detail with which the coin fringe begins. Starting in the centre, the coins fall in two directions: a red fabric detail covers the part where they part ways. It also ensures the first two coins stay in place.

Brass coins for the headdress of an unmarried girl make sense: she would not have had a large fortune of her own yet. This would become hers upon marriage: learn how that works here.

‘Brass coins on the headdress of an unmarried girl make sense’

Palestinian wuqaya: the chainwork

This particular wuqaya also shows chainwork. This is attached so it would fall below the chin, not unlike the chin-chain from Bethlehem presented in this post. This seems to be a later addition to this piece: the chainwork is irregular, mismatched and seems to have been added rather haphazardly.  

None of the headdresses published seem to have such an addition: it may come from another type of headdress, and used as embellishment of this one.

Its addition is also strange in light of who would be wearing this headdress. Such a set of chainwork is usually reserved for headdresses of married women. They would carry silver coins and display her wealth. This wuqaya however was worn by girls who had not yet acquired such wealth.

A German token coin in Palestine

The central pendant on the chin-chain carries a German text. You’ll see it in more detail on the photo above: click to enlarge it. ‘Spielmarke’ means a token. But this pendant is not as random as it might seem. On its other side, it shows a double-headed eagle. This resembles many actual coins from the period, notably the Maria Theresia Thaler.

The Maria Theresia Thaler was among the most popular coins in the Middle East and far beyond, because of its guaranteed high silver content. You will find these coins on many pieces of jewellery throughout North Africa and Southwest Asia.

Around the border however, it reads ‘Neurenberger Spiel und Rechenpfennig’. These were exported on a large scale to the Ottoman world. As they were much valued substitutes for actual coins, you will find many of these on dresses, veils and other objects of personal adornment.⁠⁠

The wuqaya: between girl and woman

According to Weir [3] this headdress was worn by girls who had reached puberty. That was an age on which girls would marry: in the area around Hebron/al Khalil, a large coin such as a Maria Theresia Thaler would be attached to the wuqaya to indicate the girl was ready to get married.

This headdress would accompany a girl during her transition from unmarried girl into married woman: an important step in her life’s journey.

—

More posts on jewellery, cultures and people? Browse them all here!

Join the Jewellery List and receive new articles, jewellery news and more in your inbox!

More cultural background on jewellery from the Middle East and North Africa? Check out the courses on offer!

—

Reference1

[1] Völger, G. (ed) 1987. Pracht und Geheimnis. Kleidung und Schmuck aus Pälästina und Jordanien, p. 277.

[2] Weir, S. 1989. Palestinian Costume. The Trustees of the British Museum, London, p. 177.

[3] Weir, S. 1989. Palestinian Costume. The Trustees of the British Museum, London, p. 176.

Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

Gold dinars at a glance

Gold dinars at a glance

by | Reviews

Un tresor en or: le dinar dans tous ses etats

Gold dinars from all sides

Published Dec 18, 2023

A small blog on a small book filled with treasure! The booklet ‘Un trésor en or – Le dinar dans tous ses États’, published by the Institut du Monde Arabe, is a lovely, and surprisingly complete, introduction into the field of gold dinars from the Islamic world. It’s primarily aimed at kids, but this slightly older kid enjoyed it, too!

Cover of the book Le dinar dans tous ses Etats

Gold dinars: the stories they hold

This tiny publication presents 428 gold dinars shown in the exhibition of the same name, held at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Spring 2023. In just 47 illustrated pages, it introduces the length and width of the world these coins represent. For example, did you know the word dinar is derived from the coin called denarius in Latin? I love these historical continuities.

The booklet explores where the gold for these coins came from, its preferred alloy, its shapes and inscriptions, but there is much more than that. Each spread in the book covers a different topic: Christian dinars, dinars with zodiac signs, calligraphy, names of sultans and caliphs…and let’s not forget dinars struck by women rulers.

It brings several useful introductory schematics, too: how to describe coins, a map with minting offices in the medieval Islamic world, and a very useful overview of all those dynasties and countries at a glance.

Gold dinars: a tiny treasure

Like I said, this is a very small booklet, but it covers much ground! Although it is primarily aimed at kids, I find it a very well executed example of introducing the span of stories a coin can share to a wider audience. It is accessible, abundantly illustrated, and informative: a tiny treasure in itself.

And that makes me look forward to the forthcoming publication of the coin collection in the Khalili Collections even more…!

More information on Un trésor en or – Le dinar dans tous ses États’

Title: Un trésor en or – Le dinar dans tous ses États’. 2023 47 pages, full colour, in French.

Published by the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA), Paris.

Available in the webshop of the IMA.

I purchased this booklet in the museum shop of the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris.

—

Where can I find more on traditional jewellery from Southwest Asia and North Africa?

More book reviews of jewellery books? Browse them all here!

Never miss a thing on jewellery news? Join the Jewellery List and find them in your inbox each month!

Looking for background information on your jewellery? Have a look at the courses – there’s so much available on the world of the jewellery from North Africa and the Middle East!

—

Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

Oman Adorned

Oman Adorned

by | Reviews

Omani silver jewellery

Oman Adorned. A Portrait in Silver

Published Dec 15, 2023

It’s a book that has been out for almost 30 years….Oman Adorned. A Portrait in Silver was published in 1997, but still is on the ‘most wanted’-list for many collectors. What is it about this book that makes it such a must-have, even though it has been out of print for decades?

The book 'Oman Adorned. A Portrait in Silver' shown with an Omani gold and silver necklace.

Oman Adorned: a hard to find book

I myself have been looking for this book for the better part of 12 years. And when I finally obtained a copy in 2023, I could not believe my luck! So, what’s the big deal about this book? Is it worth the hype?

I’d say: yes, it is. And that is not because I purchased it at a steep price and am now trying to convince myself, rather than anyone else, that it was worth it. (looking at you, new pair of overpriced shoes!) In all transparency, I hit the book jackpot for once, with a bookstore who did not realize the value of its contents for collectors and sold it at a very reasonable price.

Omani silver jewellery: an overview

Oman Adorned presents the silver jewellery tradition of Oman in three parts. These are geographically defined between Northern Oman, Central Oman and Southern Oman.

Where it truly excels, is in providing the cultural context and original names of things. And those names are not just given for the jewellery pieces themselves, but also often for its individual components: beads, dangles, coins…and even the sound some hollow anklets with small pebbles on the inside make is mentioned with its own name.

For each jewel, the book describes how and when it was worn. A large number of photographs shows what that looked like. The introductory chapter brings the history and geography of Oman, and throughout the book its various cultures are presented.

Detail of Dhofari silver jewellery from Oman.

Living Omani silver: trade, background and culture

On top of all this, all three parts of Oman Adorned include background information beyond the pieces themselves. There’s a chapter on silver jewellery for children, and jewellery in relation to the lives of women: how and when they obtain silver jewellery and why.

You’ll also find a chapter on silver jewellery and the Omani zar ceremony, the difference in jewellery and meaning between boys, men, girls and women, and chapters on trade and ownership. You’ll read how babies’ ears were pierced, how anklets added to the festivities of dance, how kohl was produced and hair was braided.

As such, Oman Adorned covers many more aspects of jewellery than just the ornamental. It discusses silver jewellery as ornament, as possession, as amulet, and as part of economic trade and household economy.

And that is what sets it aside from other books on jewellery: many of them present jewellery with only very little information, and this book places jewellery squarely in its cultural context.

Limits of Oman Adorned

As you see, this is a must-have book in its detailed descriptions and background information. And even this thorough work has its limits.

The book is extremely well-researched, but it is not complete. And it could never be, because jewellery is living heritage that changes along with its makers and wearers: creativity cannot be frozen in time, or in book pages for that matter.

As the authors themselves already write in their foreword, there is so much more on Omani adornment they did not get around to investigating. They also note the gaps in knowledge and jewellery as a result of collecting: a super important point that many other books do not address. See more about that here.

They describe this book as ‘a start’ – and if this is the start, you’ll get an idea of how much more is out there…! Incidentally, the wonderful research project on Omani silver carried out by several research partners is a fantastic follow-up: click here to read more about this exciting project! The Dhofari jewellery shown above was on display in the British Museum in the accompanying exhibition, celebrating Omani silversmithing.

Oman Adorned: how to get it

Now that is the most difficult part! The book has been out of print for decades, and getting your hands on a copy is no easy task. Of course, we all hope that we will run into a copy in that small charity shop, at the sale of the local library or in that huge bookshop with second-hand books…but those odds are slim. It does pop up irregularly online, but that is indeed a rare occasion.

Booksite Find More Books keeps track of online bookstores and other digital platforms. They cast their search net wide, and include results from (among others) AbeBooks, Amazon, Ebay and roughly 60,000 antiquarian book dealers. With the search results for your title, it also shows a graph where readers can see how the price of a book develops over time and how often it is offered for sale. The results for Oman Adorned are telling: it has not been seen online between 2016 and 2023.

Oman Adorned: what is a reasonable price for this book?

There is no easy answer to this one! Its current value is determined largely by its scarcity and lack of competition: it’s a rare book, and a very detailed one. Anyone can make a catalogue, let’s say, but this book goes above and beyond that.

But, if it were to be reprinted, and with such high demand I wonder why it hasn’t already, the value of existing copies would plummet. And imagine…if a new book on Omani silver were to be published, provided it matches the detail and knowledge in Oman Adorned, the price would decrease, too.

I suppose the consideration is not so much to see it as an investment. It rather depends on the balance between the value of knowledge and insight, and your budget. For me, this is an exceptionally good (actually indispensable) book to help me in identifying and studying Omani silver. But, although I have come across a few copies incidentally earlier, those outweighed my means. Simple as that.

So, I located it in a library, and went there whenever I needed to look something up. Worldcat is a great resource for locating titles in libraries, but… here as well, it’s a rare title.

Are you looking for a copy of Oman Adorned? Set search alerts online, with your local bookstore, and…keep looking! It may take time, but if I found one, there is hope for you, too.

Do you own a copy that you wish to sell? Contact me and I’ll help you get in touch with people who would treasure it. Again, in all transparency: I will not be selling it for you – I will simply provide guidance on how to find a buyer who truly appreciates it.

Oman Adorned: an exceptional book

Oman Adorned. A Portrait in Silver is not just a phenomenal book in its wide variety of jewellery types, but very much also because of its rich and detailed social, historical and cultural context. This book is way more than a catalogue of things: it truly is a portrait of this beautiful country as seen through its jewellery.

More information on Oman Adorned. A Portrait in Silver

Title: Oman Adorned. A Portrait in Silver. By Dr. Miranda Morris & Pauline Shelton, 1997. 362 pages, full colour, in English.

Published by Apex Publishing, Muscat 7 London.

I purchased this book in a second-hand bookstore online.

—

Where can I find more on traditional jewellery from Southwest Asia and North Africa?

More book reviews of jewellery books? Browse them all here!

Never miss a thing on jewellery news? Join the Jewellery List and find them in your inbox each month!

Looking for background information on your jewellery? Have a look at the courses – there’s so much available on the world of the jewellery from North Africa and the Middle East!

—

Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.