Magical knowledge

Magical knowledge

by | Magic & Amulets

levels of knowledge

Magical knowledge

There are effects of jewellery that everyone knows about and that practically go without saying, and there are effects for which more specialist training is needed. But who knows what, and how did they learn? There is a shifting amount of information on the part of both maker and wearer. And what is more: what do we miss?

Levels of knowledge

1 – General protection. This is the most widespread level of knowledge: literally everyone recognizes these, no secrets to be found here. General protection comes in general shapes, like triangles, circles, dots, hands, eyes, main colours and tassels, to name but a few. Their use in jewellery is so self-evident that they are present as standard part of a set decoration scheme: they are not adapted to individual requests but rather form the backbone of the visual language of jewellery.

2 – Reaching a general goal. When a person runs into problems of a general nature, the knowledge of someone who has dealt with these is needed. Here, we enter the world of wise women. They will know which colour stimulates breastfeeding, how to avert chronic headaches, what to do in case of jaundice and what to in case of infertility, fever or matters of the heart. [1] They keep and share the stories and songs that go with each remedy, colour and pattern. The reputation of these women as healers may extend through word of mouth to considerable distances, but is in general limited to family and wider social circles only.

3- Reaching a specific goal. Finally, when a specific goal is to be reached, we shift into the world of purpose-made amulets. For these types of adornment literacy is often required, a wider knowledge of the calculation of spells and numbers, of ingredients and celestial constellations.

Transmitting knowledge

These three levels of knowledge come with their own way of transmitting them. [2] Information about general protection is so common that you would be immersed in this while growing up in your community. This is called horizontal transmission. The level of knowledge elder women had accumulated, would be passed on between generations, from mother to daughter: a vertical transmission. And finally, specific knowledge requires talent, years of training and study that only a few complete.

The local factor

The second type of knowledge, which is used to combat challenges of a general nature, is the most difficult to interpret as a cultural outsider. A cultural outsider in this case is not just someone from a different country, but could be someone from as nearby as the next village. This is because this type of knowledge is characterized by a high degree of locality. It is shared within the family, or in wider circles within a village or clan. Local knowledge also incorporates the natural environment: trees, wells and other prominent features of the landscape often form an intrinsic part of the remedy. A certain stone for example must be sourced from a particular wadi, while wells and trees are said to possess powers that could amplify the efficacy of an amulet.

Vanishing worlds

It is also the type of knowledge that is vanishing the most. For general patterns in jewellery, early descriptions sometimes mention their explanation and meaning. Written amulets are based on magical works that are centuries old and continue to be available. Local knowledge however has not nearly as often been described or even paid attention to. [3] For my current PhD-research, I have been working through the jewellery collections of a number of museums. In the few instances where the precise uses of amulets have been documented, an incredibly wide world opened up that would not have revealed itself by its materiality alone. Thousands of seemingly insignificant pieces like pebbles, bone fragments or pieces of wood alongside coloured beads, coins and pendants protected their wearers and helped them heal from a variety of conditions such as joint aches, back aches, deafness, eye diseases and possession.

Similar, but not the same

It is this local factor that is often underestimated when amuletic jewellery is described. What carries meaning in one place does not automatically carry the same meaning in another: it is a bit much to claim the entire Arab world, with all its variety in peoples, religions and lifestyles, attaches the exact same meaning to a particular material. Of course, there are colours and materials that are broadly recognized for their capacities, such as red and blue or silver and gold. There is however another world beneath the surface of beaded necklaces, headdresses and natural materials set in silver where local knowledge makes all the difference. I’m working on an article on these locally used jewellery items: it’s through the magical capacities of jewellery items that the unwritten stories of a local community reveal themselves!

Interested in how jewellery works as amulet? Download your free e-book here!

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References

[1] An example is how women in Siwa oasis, Egypt, keep a collection of useful stones that remedy a variety of conditions, as described in Vale, M.M. 2011. Sand and Silver. Jewellery, Costume and Life in Siwa Oasis. York Publishing Services, York

[2] For an overview of knowledge and transmission, see the exhibition publication Secrecy: who’s allowed to know what. Museum der Kulturen, Basel

[3] See for example Popper-Giveon, Abu Rabia & Ventura 2014. White stone to blue bead, in: Material Religion Volume 10, issue 2, pp. 134-136 where this problem is designated

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. She considers jewellery heritage and a historic source. She has authored several books on jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, and on archaeological jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the Society of Jewellery Historians, the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden and the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center, among many others. She curates exhibitions and teaches online courses on jewellery from North Africa & Southwest Asia.

Early Photography Portraits

Early Photography Portraits

by | Opinion

an unreliable source

Early photography portraits of the Middle East

Updated Jan 11, 2024

Don’t you just love those old photos of women wearing jewellery? Many collectors search for these and use them to get an idea of how jewellery was worn. But there are some serious considerations to take into account with these photos: you can’t take them at face value.

Staged studio photographs

The thing with old portraits is that in almost all cases they have been staged. Early photographic equipment was heavy and cumbersome: you couldn’t snap a candid picture like we are used to nowadays, the subject had to stay really still.

Buildings and landscapes are better at that than people, so these form a large part of early photos.⁠ For people, photographers would have their own studio and their own props, and they could create photographs of people dressed in just about anything that they believed would sell.

And that is an important aspect of early photography: the point of view from which these photos were taken.

Early photography: creating the ‘Orient’

Early photography very often served to create an image of ‘the Orient’ to send back home. Of course, this new art was also used in documentation like for example of archaeological sites and monuments, but documenting more often than not switched to creating when contemporary life was photographed.

What was photographed had to fit into a specific framework: idyllic scenes in the countryside ‘like it had been in Biblical times’, and studio photography of men and women at their most ‘Oriental’. This included strangely misplaced clothing and sometimes complete nudity, as well as unnatural poses.⁠ Life as it actually happened was rarely photographed.⁠

Old photographs therefore are not neutral sources of information: we always need to be aware of the intent with and purpose for which they were taken. The photograph shown above was taken by Jean Besancenot in Morocco, and is more reliable than for example images from photo studios operating in the main cities.

Constructing the Orient: modern media

But is that misrepresentation a thing of the past? Sadly, no. In this digital age, photographs circulate faster and wider than ever before.

Social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are picture-based entirely and a quick search will get you dozens of image results. The context that goes with these however often does not come along, and as a consequence misinformation and misrepresentations are repeated again and again. It’s why I started this blog, as I wrote about here.

With the availability of photography for virtually everyone, paired with the slow disappearance of traditional dress and adornment, we enter a new era of constructed images.

Again, mashups of dress and adornment are created, photographed and circulated widely with just one click of a mouse. The photo shown above is an example for such a mashup: the headdress and face veil are not worn together like this, as they belong to two different social groups.

How to observe early portrait photos from the Middle East

Here are three points to consider when looking at old photographs of women wearing jewellery.

First of all, don’t take them at face value immediately but have a close look at what you actually see. Is it a studio photograph? Is the photographed person (semi-) nude? Is the photo part of a series, recognizable by captions like ‘scènes & types’? These are all indicators for posed and constructed photography. Postcards in particular are notoriously posed and in some cases a far cry from reality.

A second point is to look for other work by the same photographer: there is a difference between the well-known photo studios in large towns, and photographers associated with for example archaeological or military expeditions.Who was the photographer? What else did he (it was almost always a he, see for a remarkable exception this blog) photograph?

Thirdly, see what information, if any, you can dig up about the photograph itself. Especially with photographs found online, see what information comes with it: not every ‘Bedouin bride’ or ‘Woman in traditional clothing’ is identified accurately. As mislabeled info is often copied many times over (see more about that here), this may take some searching, but using the search feature for comparable images it may in some cases be possible to find a source with more information.

Taking the time to form an opinion about the trustworthiness of a photograph as visual source will help you gain a better understanding of the jewellery and dress you’re researching.

Early portrait photos and jewellery: what we can learn

Is there anything we can learn with certainty from early portrait photographs, regarding jewellery? Well, yes: we can observe which jewellery items were in existence at the time of photographing.

Even if they are props and used randomly (you’d be surprised to see how many necklaces ended up as headdresses, just because it looks so exotic), logic dictates they were available when the picture was taken.

This provides us with a timeframe: ‘this type of jewel existed as early as…’, and to some extent an idea of clothing. These pieces of information can then be used again to contribute to the actual story of the photographed people as they really were, instead of how the photographer invented them to be.⁠

And that’s the story jewellery research aims to bring back to life!

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References

I have written this blog post from a perspective of photography as resource for jewellery studies and not as a discussion of early photography itself. This field is widely explored by scholars from a variety of angles. Here are a few starting points:

The essays in the Postcard Women’s Imaginarium are a very important contribution by contemporary artists and scholars to the interpretation of Orientalist postcards.

Tied in to the inventing and constructing of photographs is the power balance between the (foreign) photographer and the photographed. The Civil Contract of Photography by Ariella Azoulay explores these ethical aspects in depth. The video A Snapshot of Empire: the racist legacy of colonial postcards shows how these pre-staged photographs continue to influence our view today: watching these 8 minutes is highly recommended!

Local photography is discussed in Ritter and Scheiwiller (eds), The Indigenous Lens? Early Photography in the Near and Middle East (Berlin 2018), of which the introductory chapter can be read here.

A selection of sources for historical photographs of the Middle East can be found here and here.

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.

Jewels of the Nile

Jewels of the Nile

by | Reviews

Jewels of the Nile

The Marrs Collection
ancient egypt

Jewels of the Nile

Ancient Egyptian jewellery never ceases to fascinate. Be it original ancient pieces or Egyptian revival-style of the last century, the allure of Egypt continues to capture the imagination and serve as inspiration. The splendid collection of the Worcester Art Museum encompasses pieces from pharaonic Egypt up to the early 20th century. These have now been published in the book Jewels of the Nile: a book that not only presents the jewellery itself, but offers a wide range of contextual information on ancient Egypt, the history of collecting and the opportunities that jewellery research has to offer, to name but a few. This scope makes Jewels of the Nile into an exceptional book.

The jewellery collection presented in the book has been assembled by Laura Marrs (1845-1926). She and her husband met with Howard Carter in the early 20th century, and the latter advised the couple for many years on which pieces to buy. Howard Carter of course would later be remembered as the discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamun –the centennial of the discovery approaching is one of the reasons for this book to be published.

To provide a historic background for the jewellery, the book starts out with a brief overview of Egyptian history. Next is an important chapter on the collector of the jewels, Laura Marrs, which is as much about Howard Carter as it is about Mrs. Marrs. Snippets of letters exchanged show the great talent of Carter as an artist – the Marrs couple also commissioned several water colour drawings which are included in the book. The letters and other documentation preserved in the personal archive of Mrs. Marrs shed light on how their collection was built: not only on the advice of Carter, but of Mohamed Mohassib as well, an antiquities dealer in Luxor. This chapter provides a glimpse of the world of antiquities trade a century ago, a thread that is picked up and returned to in the chapters that follow.

The chapter on jewellery itself covers a wide variety of jewellery-related aspects. In the introduction, emphasis is placed on the value jewellery holds as source of information about the past and the circumstances in which this value speaks the loudest, in carefully documented archaeological research. This goes not only for burials, like the chapter mentions, but also for production places, discard heaps and stray jewellery like beads found in settlements, although the richest jewellery assemblies of course have been found in burial contexts and as such have much to offer in terms of research. An absolutely stunning testimony to the skill of the ancient Egyptian craftsmen is the silver scarab of a person named Wah: a small but perfectly shaped scarab with even smaller inlaid hieroglyphs. (I also love the way the photographer is reflected in its shining surface, a problem I run into myself often when photographing silver jewellery….it’s simply inevitable!) Colour symbolism along with three sections on various materials and techniques deepen our understanding of Egyptian jewellery. A section on Egyptian revival jewellery illustrates how both original pieces and Egyptian inspired jewellery came to be all the rage from the 1870’s onwards.

It is difficult to pick a favourite chapter in this book, but if I had to, it would be the chapter on conservation, technique and research. Here, the value of jewellery research is shown in several exciting discoveries. The restringing of beaded jewellery for example: in the timeframe these beads were collected, stringing them into interesting-looking compositions was standard and carried out by either the seller, or later, the buyer. This was not exceptional: in many parts of the world, restringing beads uncovered during archaeological excavation was executed with little or no regard for their original composition or stringing technique. This chapter discusses and illustrates the choices made in researching and reassembling beads, with results that might surprise you – a jumble of strings becoming an elegant and well-balanced piece. That is just one example of this fascinating chapter: cleaning, restoration and amulet production are combined with bits and pieces about the organization of ancient Egyptian craftmanship. Jewellery research is not limited to this chapter, as hidden away at the end of the book is another detailed analysis of an ancient Egyptian plaquette mounted in a modern brooch, which illuminates what research can and cannot (yet) determine: possibilities for future research angles!

The catalogue of jewellery items finally is simply a treasure. This is not only due to the high quality of the jewellery items in the collection, but certainly also because of the fabulous photography and design of the book: large images, in vibrant colours, with plenty of space for detailed shots. Every single piece is allowed to shine and the combinations are equally vivid. A bibliography along with additional information for each catalogue entry completes the volume. An absolutely stunning, highly informative book that you will want to both read and admire!

Jewels of the Nile. Ancient Egyptian Treasures from the Worcester Art Museum, by Peter Lacovara and Yvonne J. Markowitz. 216 pp, full colour, in English

Available through the publisher D Giles Limited

The book was gifted as advance reading copy by the publisher.

Arab Costumes & Jewelry

Arab Costumes & Jewelry

by | Reviews

Arab Costumes & Jewelry

Legacy without borders
legacy without borders

Arab Costumes & Jewelry

Jewellery and adornment are heritage. They belong to a culture, a people and harbor within themselves a history of craftmanship, creativity, inspiration, exchange and beliefs. This in turn serves as an inspiration for future designs that reflect upon that same long-standing heritage. It is from this perspective of both heritage and inspiration that Arab Costumes and Jewelry has been compiled.

The author, Iraqi-born fashion designer Hana Sadiq, blends Arabic art with haute couture in her designs. On her many travels across the Arab world she has collected an impressive collection of silver jewellery and costumes. These all share common values and reflect similarities rather than differences in this vast region that encompasses over 20 countries. The authors’ view however goes much further back in time than the establishing of borders: in fact, this is the only book I have read that devotes an entire section to borders from an Arab perspective. The author describes the difficulties in attributing a certain type of jewellery to a specific country, as the origins and development of designs and styles are far more complicated. Of course there is the factor of migratory craftsmen, who would travel from city to city, but she also calls our attention to forced migration as a result of war, occupation and division of lands (p. 21). The Armenian genocide and the dividing up of land based on the discovery of oil have had direct effects on jewellery as well. The subtitle, A Legacy Without Borders, captures this important yet often overlooked aspect of jewellery history. At the same time, it also reflects the purpose of this book: to emphasize the importance of unity in the Arab world in a time of division, and to continue to build on common values in producing and creating new art forms drawing upon this rich heritage.

To serve this end, the book is not a lengthy monograph but mostly a visual treasure. The introductory chapters present an overview of history, symbols and colours, textile styles and clothing types in a concise manner, followed by over 300 pages of jewellery and costumes. Chapters on anklets, necklaces, belts, bracelets, rings, earrings and head ornaments are followed by various items (mirrors, trays, daggers and many other intricately designed objects), and a large variety of costumes. What I especially valued is how hallmarks and silversmiths’ marks have often been included in separate enlargements.

The book also includes those items that are often left out of jewellery books because they have been altered, such as pendants turned into earrings. Like the author states in the introductory text, these changes as well form part of the cultural biography of a jewellery item. The attributions of some jewellery items may differ on occasion from what you will find in other reference books, a testimony to how far and wide jewellery travels.

The photography against a black background allows the jewellery to stand out, so as to observe details and design, and the wide variety in jewellery is a delight. Not just in designs and styles, the inclusion of both older and newer jewellery shows the continuation in craftmanship and creativity. Written in three languages, this rich volume unlocks the jewellery heritage of the Arab world for a wide audience: a wonderful addition to my reference library!

Arab Costumes and Jewelry. A Legacy Without Borders. By Hana Sadiq, 2014. 389 pages, trilingual (Arabic/English/French)

The book was purchased in the Hana Sadiq Gallery in Amman. For more info, see www.hanasadiq.com and her Instagram-account

Splendor and Shine

Splendor and Shine

by | Reviews

Splendour and Shine

jewellery in the life course
jewellery and the life course

Splendour and Shine

Jewellery is an important part of transitions in life, such as marriage, and wearing certain items of jewellery is closely related to various stages in life. This is the key principle in the exhibition Splendor and Shine in the River of Time, held in the Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum in 2020, and its accompanying publication. I have not been able to visit the exhibition, but the book is a veritable treat. What makes it especially interesting is the range of traditional jewellery from a wide geographical area: the basis is formed by European dress, enhanced by many jewellery items from the Arab world and Central Asia (and to a lesser extent Africa and Oceania) for comparison.

This comparison is not just for show or aesthetic reasons only. In the first chapter, the author outlines several issues regarding the study of traditional dress and adornment, which provide a solid setting for the rest of the book. She points out for example that the study of personal adornment and dress is potentially layered with projection, as no information or documentation from the original wearers’ perspective exists, and addresses how approaching traditional dress from a colonial perspective obscures the result of migratory movements, cultural contacts and subsequent style exchanges. Reading this first chapter calls our attention to the many aspects, potential pitfalls but also possibilities of the study of traditional dress and jewellery, and this critical eye really is an asset to the book.

The book starts out with an exploration of traditional dress in Liechtenstein itself, followed by a chapter on headgear: crowns, bonnets, combs, pins, all beautifully illustrated. Several examples from outside Europe serve to widen the perspective on the reasons for wearing head decoration. The next chapter on a supra-regional classification explores principles, colours, cultural exchange and techniques used in European traditional jewellery, which I found to be very enlightening. The chapter on amulets combines jewellery from various areas in the world to illustrate the need to protect young life: from babies to young adolescents. The wish for fertility and healthy children is explored worldwide and makes for interesting similarities and differences. The same exploration is carried out in the chapter on belts: once a clear symbol of status, their function has now changed as a result of changing fashion.

The meaning of jewellery in the various stages of life is discussed in the chapter on regional festive jewellery, again with supportive examples from elsewhere in the world. This theme continues in the chapter on ethnic jewellery in Europe, Asia and Africa, followed by a chapter on amulets and beliefs during the course of life. Next is a chapter on mourning jewellery and jewellery as protection against death, followed by the final, extensive chapter on regional dress in Europe. Here, not only history and the jewellery and dress themselves are presented, but also their survival, reinterpretations and changing meaning. In between the chapters short excursions are placed, for example on the restoration of a filigree apron closure, or a letter to ancestors on hair flowers (in German only), which add another personal perspective on traditional dress. The book ends with notes and literature for each chapter.

Throughout the book, emphasis is placed on cultural exchange and changing styles, as well as on the perspectives offered on traditional jewellery. The texts are not only very informative on large and small aspects of particular jewellery, but also on the study of jewellery itself. One example is how the author remarks that the discourse on non-European jewellery is strongly Eurocentric, and only a few interpretations from within the cultures themselves exist (p. 127). That is certainly true for most large collections, which have indeed been both collected and published by European and American collectors and authors. The statement made me wonder however if this Eurocentric view is not also furthered by the fact that Westerners fail to notice publications within the cultures themselves: because of language barriers and/or their availability, for example. I do know of several publications by authors within the Arab world that are impossible to obtain in any other way than traveling to the country itself and picking up a copy there. Being aware of what else is out there besides readily available publications certainly is a main point of improvement, and to me, having this and other discrepancies pointed out in this book significantly adds to its value.

This book has much to offer: not only do the many, many photographs of jewellery and dress items (and there are hundreds of individual items to admire!) make for hours of visual pleasure, but the well-researched text has a very high density of information. I have learned a great deal while reading it, which is hardly surprising as I know woefully little about European jewellery and adornment, and I enjoyed the critical view of the author on how traditional jewellery is perceived, treated and studied. You will love this addition to your bookshelf!

Splendor and Shine in the River of Time. Traditional jewelry and costumes throughout the life course, by Irene Steiner. 194 pages, full-colour, bilingual German/English. Available through the webshop of the museum.

The book was a much loved gift from Sarah Corbett.