Jewellery and the senses: smell

Jewellery and the senses: smell

by | General jewellery topics

Sensory research

Jewellery and the senses: smell

Published on December 13, 2024

Ethnic jewellery is often studied for its aesthetic, symbolic, and material qualities. But there is much more to it, that is difficult to study from a book or when a jewel is lying in a museum case…and that is the sensory experiences it evokes for its wearers and the people around it. And imagine, for archaeological jewellery that is even harder, as there is no one left to ask! So, I wanted to introduce the relationship between jewellery and the senses: what did a piece of jewellery mean for its wearer? And what do we miss out as researchers and collectors, coming from another culture or timeframe? In this third article, we’ll look at smell.

Why study jewellery and smell?

Smell is an incredibly powerful sense, even if it is invisible and fleeting. The perfume industry is a multi-billion-dollar industry globally, and just the simple fact that people are willing to pay for the sensation of spritzing themselves with a perfume which will inevitably dissipate, tells you something about that importance. It’s temporary, it does not last… but we do want it.

In North Africa and Southwest Asia in particular, the use of fragrant materials is part of ancient cultural, social, and religious traditions. Understanding this dimension of adornment not only enriches our appreciation of these pieces, but also offers new ways that we may look at jewellery.

So, what is it about the olfactory dimension of jewellery? How may we explore and understand something that has gone…?

Smell: scent and its significance in the Middle East

In North Africa and the Middle East, scent is more than an aesthetic pleasure; it is a vital part of daily life, social customs, and religious practices. Fragrance is considered a means of purification, an enhancer of personal allure, and a medium for spiritual connection.

The Prophet Muhammad himself is said to have cherished perfumes, and the use of scent holds an esteemed place in Islamic tradition. The Qur’an and hadiths mention the value of pleasant aromas, especially in ritual contexts such as prayer and preparation for worship.

Culturally, the importance of fragrance is inseparable from concepts of hospitality and intimacy. Homes in the Arab Peninsula are often infused with bakhoor (incense) to welcome guests, while perfumed oils are applied to skin and hair as acts of personal grooming and, again, devotion. These practices underscore a shared belief that fragrance enhances the human connection—whether between individuals, families, or the divine.

How all this works, is explained in the course on Scents in the Middle East!

Wearing scent: jewellery that smells

Jewellery often incorporates materials and designs intended to diffuse or carry scent. For example, silver amulets and pendants sometimes feature hollow compartments, or small perforated boxes. These are designed to hold scented substances such as musk, ambergris, cotton or wool infused with scented oils, or dried herbs and flowers – anything that smells! These containers allow wearers to carry a personal fragrance throughout the day, linking ornamentation to olfactory meaning.

See the meaning and importance of just one example of such a container in this article

Jewellery like this serves not only as decoration, but also as powerful amulet. The scents are believed to ward off the evil eye, a pervasive belief throughout the region. The protective power of these fragrances complements the talismanic role of the jewellery itself.

Adornment and smell: hair, body and dress

In all these contexts, the use of scent in jewellery is closely tied to other scented elements such as dress, hair, and the body itself. After all, layering perfumes was invented in the Middle East! Hair is often cared for with fragrant oils, or indeed scented paste that worked both as a haircare product and modelling agent. Remnants of these pastes can sometimes be found on hair jewellery, as I explain in more detail here.

Items of clothing can be fragranced by fumigating them with incense, and the body itself is cared for with scented oils and perfumes as well: imagine how jewellery once formed part and parcel of this fragrant aura surrounding the wearer!

Jewellery and smell: scent as a research field

So, how to use the sense of smell in jewellery research? After all, most of it is gone…the only thing that remains may be a layer of drab dark residu, or the visual indication that something may have smelled through its design, for example. There are a few ways to go about this:

Look: Awareness of this invisible capacity is key! When you are aware, or may have an inkling or idea, that cultures used fragrance and attached importance to it, actively look for this possibility, too.

Test: Residues of scented oils, resins, or powders can sometimes be detected through scientific methods. Researchers use techniques like gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify organic compounds and reconstruct the original scent profile of a piece.

Compare: Examining the cultural and historical context of jewellery can provide clues about whether or not fragrance was used. By that I do not mean to simply slap a capacity of one culture onto another: that never works. What I would suggest however, is that by comparing widely, we may keep an open mind as to what possibilities exist.

Ask: Equally often overlooked, but incredibly important: just ask! Interviews with artisans and communities that still produce traditional jewellery, or that remember how a previous generation made use of this capacity, can get you invaluable insights in how scent was integrated into these pieces.

Jewellery and smell: an invisible world of meaning

Understanding the role of scent in jewellery can deepen our appreciation of the cultural significance of these pieces. Collectors, for example, could consider the olfactory history of their acquisitions as part of their storytelling value: imagine all the stories these pieces could share, about weddings and other festivities, about faith and devotion, about individual preferences and hospitality…all coming together in a piece of jewellery.

In the next installment on the sensory dimensions of jewellery, we’ll be looking at sound!

Read the earlier blogs on the sensory aspects of jewellery here:

Sight

Touch

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References

This blog is based on my book Silver & Frankincense – Scent and Adornment in the Arab world.

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].

The Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog: 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, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on jewellery, informal ritual and collections. 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. Sigrid strongly believes in accessibility of knowledge, and aims to provide reliable and trustworthy content: that’s why the Bedouin Silver blog provides references and citations.

Not Lost But Gone Before

Not Lost But Gone Before

by | European jewellery, General jewellery topics

Jewellery conference

Not Lost But Gone Before

Published on October 26, 2024

When you have been following this blog for a while, you know that jewellery to me is a historic source. It shares a lot about both the people that made and wore these items as well as the world they lived in. No jewellery is more personal in that respect than mourning jewellery. Even though this is a very Western thing, I have been fascinated by it for quite some time, and so I jumped at the chance to co-organise Not Lost But Gone Before, an entire afternoon of talks about this particular topic!

Not Lost But Gone Before: the title

Not Lost But Gone Before was born out of enthusiasm of three people. Kim van Zweeden is a jewellery researcher and podcast host with a wide interest in all things jewellery. Sophie van Gulik is a jewellery specialist and researcher, and the third person, you guessed it, is me.

We share an appreciation of the beauty and history in mourning jewellery, and so we almost organically came up with the idea to organise a symposium when we learned the one and only Sarah Nehama was coming to The Netherlands! Sarah is a specialist on mourning jewellery and author of the book In Death Lamented: see more about that here.

We named the symposium after one of the mottos that is often found on mourning jewellery: Not Lost But Gone Before is a beautiful line, instilling hope in those left behind that they may be reunited with their loved ones at some unknown point in the future.

Mourning jewellery

Mourning jewellery is incredibly personal and sentimental. From the 17th century onwards, jewellery commemorating departed loved ones became fashionable, and this reached an absolute peak in the 19th century. Queen Victoria donned mourning dress after the death of her husband Albert, and as such singlehandedly created a boom in the market for all sorts of mourning jewellery.

Much of that jewellery has survived, and is avidly collected. Our symposium sold out, and we were thrilled to have a room filled with an audience eager to learn more and share!

Sarah presented an overview of mourning jewellery, starting with the earliest memento mori-jewellery and finishing in the 20th century. She explained how styles developed and how new techniques found their way into mourning jewellery, such as daguerreotypes and photography.

Sophie shared the memory of her ancestor, Anna Paulowna (Pauline) van Gulik. This was a powerful story on how personal jewellery can be: after the early death of Pauline, her family went into mourning and held on to every single piece of material culture surrounding her death and funeral. Photos, jewellery, mourning dress and other mementos are still kept in the family until today, and illustrate how hard letting go can be.

Kim brought us a kaleidoscopic overview of mourning customs in her home province, Zeeland. We learned about the stages of mourning expressed through jewellery and dress, the (sometimes) very local customs and choices, and brought us up to speed with traditions from Zeeland.

And finally, I presented a talk on a unique mourning ring from the Netherlands, a piece that ties in closely with national history and the mythmaking that surrounds historical figures.

Mourning jewellery: exhibition

Of course, no symposium on jewellery is complete without an exhibition! We curated a small, but beautiful exhibition on mourning jewellery from The Netherlands and the UK. In it, we addressed materials, such as hairwork and jet. Hairwork is not necessarily exclusively for mourning, but how to tell the difference? And while mourning jewellery is often associated with jet, in The Netherlands this does not exist: mourning jewellery is made of black glass. Mourning necklaces from various in The Netherlands, brooches and rings from both The Netherlands and the UK as well as a beautiful selection of mourning dress in Sophie’s family allowed the guests to enjoy an overview of the wide field of mourning jewellery.

Not Lost But Gone Before: a recurring event

The symposium on mourning jewellery was well received: the room was sold out and we had guests coming from considerable distances to join in. The mingling and discussions afterwards, as well as the experiences shared around the exhibition, made it abundantly clear that there is still so much to explore and share! Not Lost But Gone Before will return in 2025: if you’d like to be kept informed, please drop me a line and we will add you to our mailing list for this event!

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Find out more about the histories behind jewellery in the e-courses!

More posts on jewellery and research? Browse them all here!

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The Bedouin Silver blog gives credit where credit is due! Transparent referencing and citing sources helps us all grow. Would you like to do the same and quote this article? 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, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on the jewellery of the Egyptian zar-ritual. 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.

What does a jewellery historian do?

What does a jewellery historian do?

by | General jewellery topics

Jewellery research

What does a jewellery historian do…?

Published on August 23, 2024

When people learn I’m a jewellery historian, their first response is often ‘I had no idea that was a thing!’, usually followed by ‘What does a jewellery historian do…?’ In this two-part blog, I’m using the questions I asked about my work to zoom on what it is jewellery historians do, and of course, how I go about it myself. So here is Part 1!

What is jewellery history?

Being a jewellery historian is not a clearly defined field, and that offers plenty possibilities for individual researchers to give it their own spin. Our central theme is, unsurprisingly, jewellery, but that is a theme you can observe from many angles. Jewellery history is a very wide field.

Starting with scope, most jewellery historians focus on either one type or category of jewellery, on a specific timeframe or geographical region, or both. It’s completely impossible to know everything and anything on all jewellery ever created by humans, so limiting one’s scope occurs almost naturally.

Just one example: I have a friend who is extremely knowledgeable about all things jet throughout time: her starting point is the material itself, and from there she traces technical, historical, cultural and economic aspects of jet jewellery. [1] We met at the Society of Jewellery Historians in London, where we both were presenting a talk: yes, we have a society and it’s not even secret! [2]

There are jewellery historians who are extremely focused on technological aspects, but who could not tell you the first thing about its cultural meaning. There are jewellery historians who are intrigued by the aesthetic and iconographic evolving of jewellery as adornment, jewellery historians who study the social meaning of jewellery, and even forensic jewellery historians, who help give a voice to the dead by looking at their jewellery.

The study of jewellery in the widest sense is incredibly varied, and that is what makes it into such a fascinating field, I think.

How did I become a jewellery historian?

There is not really a curriculum to become a jewellery historian in the field of North African and Southwest Asian adornment. For me, this is a self-built field, that took me decades of finding my own path and pursuing my own research interests. And I would not have it any other way, too: I love and appreciate the freedom to go exploring what works and does not work for me, and dive deeper into those aspects that I really enjoy.

So, it’s not something I consciously set out to achieve, with a clear plan and a solid goal in mind: for me, it was more of a natural path that I followed, let by my interests, which eventually led to the realisation I might have become a jewellery historian – and then I went with that.

And what if you wanted to become one? Other avenues to approach include following education at the GIA, pursue specialisation within an art history or design curriculum, or within applied sciences…there are endless possibilities to developing yourself into a jewellery historian.

And where do jewellery historians find a job?

Good question! I also get asked a lot how I ‘got this job’: more on that below, so keep reading! Where may jewellery historians end up? Of course, there are museums with jewellery collections, where jewellery historians work as curators. In academia, you may find them as lecturers in design or history departments, although with most universities, there is not really a curriculum in wider jewellery studies itself. Auction houses also often employ jewellery historians to identify and appraise jewellery, and there is always the possibility of starting your own business as a jewellery dealer or consultant!

Jewellery history: how do I go about my work?

How do I fit in all this? How did I land my job? I have a few central themes that are pivotal to me and which guide my work. You might think of these as my mission, or maybe my main values. This is not necessarily how other jewellery historians interpret their work, this is how I think of mine.

First, I have a clear scope. I focus on adornment in the many cultures in North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological jewellery from this region and from Europe. There is much more out there, and although I have built up quite a large mental reference, I need to reach out to fellow researchers every once in a while, too. Which is always great, because then I get to learn something new…!

Central to my work are these themes:

1) For me, jewellery is a historic source. It has so much to tell, about the world of women, climate change, religion, history, geopolitics, identity…⁠So I’m not the type of historian who focuses on art historian or iconographic details, but more of a historian who places jewellery in its wider context as material culture. That could also be the archaeologist in me, of course, but I can’t see jewellery as simply embellishments only. That would be selling its amazing capacities of storytelling short.

2) Jewellery does not exist in a vacuum. It belongs within a particular context: studying jewellery means understanding this cultural and historic context as well. To me, that is absolutely essential.

You could imagine this as ever widening circles. Starting with jewellery and the body, there is of course looking at directly related fields of study, such as dress and body aesthetic, but also taking research and theory into shaping personal identity into account, along with things like gender studies. Widening our view a little further, there is the field of economy and trade to observe, ranging from household economy to shifting geopolitical landscapes. Beyond that, there is the intangible: how does jewellery relate to informal ritual, but also to things like expressions or sayings, songs, and poetry?

3) Jewellery is heritage. It is a living part of the society that created it. To me, this is crucial, particularly when thinking about its future. Where is the jewellery, currently residing with private collectors, going to end up? For me, engaging with, and more importantly listening to the communities that created and wore these items of jewellery is of major importance.

4) Personal adornment is not simply an ‘object’: in many cultures it forms part of a person, helps them grow and is believed to contribute to their safety and wellbeing. Thinking of jewellery as being alive somehow offers different approaches to understanding these better, instead of only looking at them as a commodity that you can buy or sell.

How did I get this job as a jewellery historian?

Well, I built it myself. I think this may be one of the things I’m most proud of: that I can actually build a business out of something I believe to important and something I love doing – a business that allows me to keep on working in and adding to this field.

It makes me feel incredibly grateful to realise there are so many people who do not just buy jewellery, but are also genuinely interested in their cultural background. The e-courses I developed for example work so well they helped me fund my (self-funded, because independent researcher) PhD research in the past, and now they continue to support my next research projects. On top of that, I get to do commissioned writing in really exciting projects and to present talks on jewellery, all while helping other appreciate their collections of jewellery even more. It’s honestly the best job ever.

But what do I do all day, exactly? More on that in Part 2 of this blog!

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Find out more about the histories behind jewellery in the e-courses!

More posts on jewellery and research? Browse them all here!

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

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Discover more on jewellery today!

References

[1] Sarah Caldwell-Steele is a researcher and jetworker who knows jet in and out! Follow her work and research here.

[2] The Society of Jewellery Historians is very much worth joining! Fascinating lectures, an illustrated periodical and always something new to learn.

The Bedouin Silver blog gives credit where credit is due! Transparent referencing and citing sources helps us all grow. Would you like to do the same and quote this article? 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].

The Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog: 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, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on jewellery, informal ritual and collections. 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. Sigrid strongly believes in accessibility of knowledge, and aims to provide reliable and trustworthy content: that’s why the Bedouin Silver blog provides references and citations.

Jewellery and the senses: touch

Jewellery and the senses: touch

by | General jewellery topics

Sensory research

Jewellery and the senses: touch

Published on August 09, 2024

Ethnic jewellery is often studied for its aesthetic, symbolic, and material qualities. But there is much more to it, that is difficult to study from a book or when a jewel is lying in a museum case…and that is the sensory experiences it evokes for its wearers and the people around it. And imagine, for archaeological jewellery that is even harder, as there is no one left to ask! So, I wanted to introduce the relationship between jewellery and the senses: what did a piece of jewellery mean for its wearer? And what do we miss out as researchers and collectors, coming from another culture or timeframe? In this second article, we’ll look at touch.

Why study jewellery and touch?

Touch is an often overlooked but super significant aspect of jewellery. I mean, jewellery is literally meant to be worn on the body, and so the wearer will end up feeling it. That is where it differs from sight: sight plays with the distance between you and another person, but touch is highly personal and usually reserved for the wearer alone.

But touch is not just important for the wearers of that jewellery, but for researchers as well. The tactile qualities of jewellery play a crucial role in both their experiences and understanding. So, let’s explore the importance of touch from these two perspectives!

Touch: wearing jewellery

For wearers, the tactile properties of jewellery are integral to their personal and cultural experience. The weight, texture, and temperature of jewellery materials can evoke feelings of comfort, identity, and connection to heritage. It does something that is not always easy to put into words. And that ‘something’ is personal: of all the senses, feeling one’s jewellery is an experience for the wearer alone. Others may see, hear and even smell your jewellery, but how it feels…? That is between you and your jewellery.

Wearing jewellery: weight and presence

The weight of jewellery and other personal adornment can be a constant physical reminder of cultural identity and social status. Just one example are the coin-laden headdresses of Palestine, known as saffeh. They create a continuous sensory presence on the head, and their weight influences how the wearer carries herself.

I was allowed to wear such a headdress briefly in the home of a Palestinian collector, and the weight had a profound effect on my posture and, this may seem odd, the awareness of my own head. Feeling the headdress somehow made me feel more visible.

During that same visit, I was also dressed in a sleeveless jacket heavily decorated with coins. This was a miqlab, a bridal garment on which family would attach both coins and pieces of silver. This, too, felt heavy, and it made me think how a bride would feel in the knowledge that the weight of this garment literally embodied her own financial security and independence.

Jewellery and touch: texture

The texture of jewellery materials, whether smooth, rough, or intricately carved, provides wearers with a direct connection to the craftsmanship involved in their creation. Texture is also deliberately aimed not just at seeing, but also at wearing: the side of a jewel touching the skin is often smooth, while the exterior may be decorated in some way.

Besides wear comfort, there is also the tactile experience of feeling your jewels throughout the day. We all fumble with our necklaces, I think, and, speaking for myself at least, when someone compliments me on my necklace, I usually reach for it to feel which one I’m wearing – and I know instantly upon the touch.

It’s that sensation of textures which may reinforce the value of the jewellery, not just as an adornment but as a highly personal piece. There may be reassurance in smoothness or softness for example, something that is agreeable to the touch.

Jewellery and touch: temperature and material properties

Temperature is real! These temperature sensations change with the environment, creating a dynamic interaction between the jewellery and the wearer. There is that shiver when you put on a necklace on a cold day – but it’s gone in a few minutes. And there is the opposite, wearing metal jewellery on a hot day, when the outside of a bracelet can be too hot to touch.

Each material has its own qualities when it comes to temperature: bone, wood, glass, various metals…they all interact with the wearer in a different way.

All of this makes touch an incredibly important part of jewellery research. So how does that work?

Jewellery and touch as a research method

Engaging with jewellery through touch is vital. It may reveal so much about the materials, construction techniques, and cultural significance that might not be evident through visual inspection alone. You really need to see more than just a photo: jewellery needs to be handled. It’s by holding an object that you’ll get a better idea of its physical qualities, and from there, what does and does not work in its cultural context.

That goes for archaeological jewellery in particular: you’re usually not allowed to try a piece of jewellery on in a museum, but that is actually exactly what is needed to get how it may have been worn in the past.

Here are 3 ways touch works as a great research tool.

1 Material identification

Touching and handling jewellery can help identify materials that might be difficult to discern visually. For example, distinguishing between bone and ivory, or between glass and precious stones, often requires tactile examination (on top of tons of other methods!). The feel of the material can provide clues about its origins and the techniques used to shape it.

2 Craftsmanship and construction

By feeling the surface and construction of jewellery, you can also gain insights into the craftsmanship and techniques employed. Is it hollow or solid? Can you feel joints, or for example moving parts? That tactile experience can help reconstruct the making processes, and get an idea on how a piece of jewellery may have functioned in everyday life.

3 Wear patterns

Handling jewellery allows you to study wear patterns that indicate how pieces were used and valued. It’s those places where a bracelet or an anklet has run smooth from years of wearing, that tell you a lot about its everyday life. Usewear, as this is called, has so much to share about the jewellery’s history and the lifestyle of its wearers!

With archaeological jewellery, this is a bit more difficult, but this is where replica jewellery comes in. By wearing similar pieces, that have preferably been made in the same manner as they would have been in the past, you not only get a feel for how they may have been worn, but also on how they ‘behave’ – and end up with wear and tear.

Jewellery and touch: wearing and researching

So, as you see, both wearers and researchers experience touch in complementary ways.

For wearers, the tactile interaction with jewellery is continuous and often very personal. The feel of a necklace resting on your chest, the movement of bangles, and the weight of earrings contribute to the sensory landscape of the wearer.  It’s reassuring in some way, to feel a piece of jewellery on your skin, and you miss it when it’s not there.

Researchers approach touch with a more analytical perspective. And they do so in two ways: there is studying how touch has left traces on the object itself, to get an idea how it may have been worn. And there is handling of a piece of jewellery in turn: like I wrote above, actually handling pieces is super important!

In jewellery studies, interviews with original wearers is super important. Their tactile experiences and meanings associated with the jewellery are vital, and you’ll only understand these from actually wearing the items they’re talking about – sharing an experience.

Jewellery and touch: a highly personal aspect

By appreciating and studying the tactile aspects of ethnic jewellery, you may get that much closer to their original wearers. How does a piece of jewellery feel, how does it sit on your body, how does it interact with other items of personal adornment such as dress or hair? Touch is much more close to the skin than sight, and so touch is, in my view, a very personal aspect of jewellery.

In the next installment on the sensory dimensions of jewellery, we’ll be looking at smell!

Read the other blogs on the sensory aspects of jewellery here:

Sight

Smell

Sound

—

Find out more about the histories behind jewellery in the e-courses!

More posts on jewellery and research? Browse them all here!

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

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Discover more on jewellery today!

References

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, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on the jewellery of the Egyptian zar-ritual. 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.

Visible Beauty, Hidden Meaning

Visible Beauty, Hidden Meaning

by | General jewellery topics

Jewellery conference

Visible Beauty, Hidden Meaning

Published on August 05, 2024

What do you do to celebrate your PhD? Throw a party of jewellery talks! I hosted the symposium Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings in June 2024, bringing together artists, historians, makers, archaeologists and wearers, to discuss personal adornment in the widest sense of the world and from multiple angles. The room in the National Museum of Antiquities was packed with a curious and engaged audience, and well, what can I say: this afternoon was some serious fun!

Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings: the title

First, why this title? ‘Hidden Meanings’ does not refer to sensational secret codes (hope you were not expecting that), but to the many meanings a piece of jewellery can have. And those meanings are not always straightforward, especially when the observer is from another culture, or from another timeframe, or both.

Speaking for myself, my grandmother could read and explain details in the traditional jewellery of her region that I do not even spot unless they are pointed out to me. Same culture, but different timeframe.

Imagine doing that as an archaeologist, looking at jewellery of thousands of years ago: different culture, different timeframe – and no one to ask!

On top of that, our various disciplines and cultural backgrounds result in us looking at jewellery and adornment differently, too. A maker will spot technical details sooner, a wearer will see what does and does not work, a historian traces shapes and symbols to a wider context.

‘Meaning’ may simply be hidden to us, because we may see a lot of adornment, but we don’t know what to look for.

So, what I wanted to do on this afternoon, is bring together experts from a variety of fields to look at adornment together, share their way of seeing and engaging with adornment, and learn from each other’s viewpoints. A wonderful aspect in that respect was that none of us is only just one thing: you can be an archaeologist, a wearer, a maker and a practitioner all one, or a maker, wearer and researcher. Just like jewellery, people carry multiple perspectives, too, and that is what made this afternoon of cross-overs so inspiring.

Enthralled audience at the symposium Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings, organised by Sigrid van Roode
Fatima Oulad Thami answering questions from her enthousiastic audience at the symposium Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings, organised by Sigrid van Roode

Living Adornment

Salma Ahmad Caller opened the symposium with a thought-provoking talk on jewellery and our imagination. What does it mean to adorn oneself? Using adornment as classification tool for ‘Peoples & Types’ heavily relies on only sight as medium, practiced by external observers, and limiting our understanding – but adornment also has profound bodily aspects as well, known only to the wearer. Supported by Salma’s beautiful art works, this talk was a fantastic opening not just of the symposium, but of our minds.

Fatima Oulad Thami took us through Moroccan henna as living, changing heritage. She shared her own experiences as both a henna wearer and henna artist with us, as well as her journey into history and research of this art form. Fatima explained how henna as colorant is used not just for skin or hair, but also on fabrics, connecting the body to things through similar treatment. She also highlighted the bodily sensations of henna, such as its scent, and its capacity of cooling the skin, and its powerful presence in a number of social contexts such as weddings and festivities, and informal rituals.

Fatima explored henna as living heritage through changing patterns, changing modes of application, and a changing clientele. As henna traditions are mainly oral, and not written down in pattern books for example, there is much that may be lost in the near future, and I think we all felt the importance of Fatima’s work.

Wafa Ghnaim tuned in from New York to share her latest research into Palestinian dress, with a focus on headdresses. Wafa learned to embroider from her mother at a very young age, and has since combined her ancestral art with education, research and activism – if ever you’d need a clear example of the profound meaning traditional adornment has in today’s world, Palestinian tatreez is it.

Wafa showed us how adornment expresses identity on so many levels: of a people and culture as a whole, of a region in particular, and finally, the hardest level of identity to trace but the most powerful of them all, that of the person who made and wore an item of dress.

Adornment outside its living context

These first three talks set the scene for the length and width of jewellery and adornment as experienced by living cultures. For archaeologists and jewellery historians, this overview is a bit daunting, as we’re left with only the material remains of a society. We simply have no idea of any of the kind of traditions, customs, habits, and ‘ways of doing things’ a living culture has. But as the next three speakers showed, there is still a lot to be learned.

Karsten Wentink took us back to prehistory with his research into the earliest gold ornaments from The Netherlands. These are mysterious things: beautiful, but we have absolutely no idea how they were worn. By comparing similar items from other parts of Europe, and asking a skilled goldsmith to study the technical details, we may get an idea of how these things were handled in the past. And what is more, these objects were decorated, which led to a lively exchange of thoughts with Fatima on the importance and meaning of patterns on both skin and things.

Yvonne Lammers addressed one of the most difficult aspects of the past to grasp: spirituality and ritual. She drew fascinating parallels between the grave of a richly adorned woman from medieval Fyrkat, Sweden, and wicca practices of her own experience. She based her argument on analysis of the items found with the woman, including hallucinatory aspects of organic materials, contemporary tales of magic and witchcraft, and sensory elements. Here, we looked back at Salma’s talk again: dare we use our imagination and acknowledge this woman as a seeress?

Kim van Zweeden then showed us sentimental and mourning jewellery from the relatively recent past, the 19th and 19th centuries. Here as well, we need to understand the cultural context to get an idea of what all these skulls and fascination with death actually meant. Adornment can be a powerful way to connect with loved ones, either living or dead, and we lingered a while on the intimacy of using another person’s hair in ornaments worn on the body, a topic Jolanda reflected on with her research in dressing the hair of the dead in ancient Egypt.

The audience of the symposium Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings engaging with books and objects.
Sigrid van Roode trying out replica prehistoric ornaments of Karsten Wentink's research project.
Jolanda Bos sharing her research into the sensory aspects of face veils at the symposium Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings, organised by Sigrid van Roode

A caleidoscope of adornment studies

Jolanda Bos wrapped all previous topics up in her talk on the sensory aspects of personal adornment. She whisked us through time, from the ancient world to contemporary practices, and showed us how hairstyle, dress and jewellery all work together. For this, she shared many examples from her research on kohl containers from both ancient Egypt and the modern world, face veils, and hairstyles from Amarna.

Here, we touched on perceptions as well as sensations. Perceptions, as Western Egyptologists have long struggled with the concept of greasing one’s hair (even with delightfully perfumed wax), while this makes total sense to people used to caring for African hair. And sensations, in the smell, weight and sounds of face veils, which Jolanda is also working on. A beautiful final talk to conclude an afternoon of adornment studies!

To support the talks, each speaker also brought objects from their own research for the audience to see, touch, smell, and ask about. Jolanda, for example, brought kohl containers and face veils, of which one still retained some of its smell. A fascinating sensation to breathe in the same fragrance as the wearer once did! Fatima recreated a wedding henna set-up with a sugar cone, henna leaves and a bracelet placed atop the cone, Karsten had recreated some of the prehistoric ornaments for us to try, and Yvonne brought replicas of the Fyrkat seeress’ outfit.

This ‘table of things’ formed a perfect medium for our audience to share their thoughts, ask questions and follow up with the speakers during the break and after the last talk.

Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings: new beginnings

What happens when a henna artist, an archaeologist and a witch walk into a bar…? That is what we did afterwards: get a drink and a bite to eat, and reflect on the afternoon. Turns out, we all loved to hear other perspectives, but also to recognize elements of our own field of study in that of someone else.

For me personally, that flow of recognition was the best part of the entire afternoon: we may all be working with totally different objects in completely different contexts, but by using our collective imagination and inspired by the results and viewpoints of others, new things emerge. This symposium was just too good to leave it at a one-time event: I’ll be definitely organizing more of these in future, so stay tuned and watch this space!

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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, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on the jewellery of the Egyptian zar-ritual. 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.

Jewellery and the senses: sight

Jewellery and the senses: sight

by | General jewellery topics

Sensory research

Jewellery and the senses: sight

Published on August 02, 2024

Ethnic jewellery is often studied for its aesthetic, symbolic, and material qualities. But there is much more to it, that is difficult to study from a book or when a jewel is lying in a museum case…and that is the sensory experiences it evokes for its wearers and the people around it. And imagine, for archaeological jewellery that is even harder, as there is no one left to ask! So, I wanted to introduce the relationship between jewellery and the senses: what did a piece of jewellery mean for its wearer? And what do we miss out as researchers and collectors, coming from another culture or timeframe? In this first article, we’ll look at sight.

Jewellery and sight: a very human aspect

Sight might be the most obvious sense. Jewellery, after all, is literally made to be seen. And that is one of the most exciting things I can think of: did you know that jewellery is the first thing ever made by humans, that is not immediately practical, like a tool?

The earliest form of adornment known to date (they keep getting unearthed, so this may change in the future) is a set of shell beads found in Bizmoune Cave, in what today is Morocco. [1] Some 142,000 years ago, some created a necklace of shells here. Just think of what that means: this early human knew how to make an impression. They were aware of their own self, and they knew how to manipulate the impression they made on others.

Wearing jewellery helps to regulate social interaction, and apparently, we have been doing that for a very long time.

Want to see how long? The Ancient Jewellery-course brings you 5,000 years of jewellery history in the Middle East and North Africa!

Jewellery and sight: social information

Fast-forward from the distant past to our timeframe. The Maasai of East Africa use beaded jewellery to signify age, marital status, and social roles. [2] Each colour and pattern has a specific meaning, creating a visual language that communicates complex social information at a glance – if you know how to read them, of course.

And that goes for almost all jewellery. The tizerzai or clothing pins from the Maghreb communicate tribal affiliation as well as geographic location: the decoration on pins in one village may be every so slightly different from those in the next village, the amount of jewellery someone wears, has a lot to say about their wealth, and specific symbols may be used to indicate which religion they adhere. It’s all meant to be seen.

Serving as visual communicator is an important capacity of jewellery, and one that directly involves others: the wearer, and the persons around them. ‘I wear this jewellery so you can see who I am’.

Jewellery and sight: showing complex knowledge

And sometimes, there is even serious knowledge hidden in plain sight! The most spectacular example I can think of, comes from the Bronze Age in Europe. It’s a huge, pointy hat (very Harry Potter-style) made entirely of thinly hammered sheet gold. It is decorated with regularly spaced bands and repeating patterns. A curious headdress, you might say, and leave it at that. Until someone started looking at these in earnest. The ‘decoration’ turned out to be a calendar – and not just any calendar, but an intricate system that combines lunar and solar calendars. [3]

Jewellery and sight: a visual language

Apart from communicating identity or displaying knowledge, there is more to seeing jewellery. It can also convey intent, or subtle messages the wearer does not want to say out loud. And jewellery can be designed to frighten both people and evil spirits.

In real life, war adornment combined with body paint is often intended to put fear into the hearts of adversaries on the battle field, such as in Papua New Guinea. For invisible presences, those bright colours, intricate designs, and even the reflective qualities of metals catch the attention, and avert that attention away: the basic principle behind the Evil Eye.

Is evil eye jewellery good or bad? Find out in this blog!

An example from Siwa Oasis, in Egypt, is when a woman would wear her head jewellery just slightly differently: it told her mother-in-law that not all was well in the marriage. [4] Here again, you’d have to know these subtle codes to understand them: ‘I wear my jewellery so you can see what I want or need’.

Jewellery and sight: the perspective of the viewer

This aspect of sight is also in play when it comes to the size of jewels, or their placement on the body. Large jewellery can be seen from a distance, but to see their decoration, you’d have to be closer to the wearer. When it comes to warding off evil, jewellery can be active over several distances. The shimmering and movement of jewellery can be seen from afar, and when any evil forces should be closer, the intricate decoration patterns as well as protective texts are powerful barriers, too.

And that is not just for invisible powers: the distance of sight also works wonders for the age-old practice of keeping up appearances. On first glance, a person might be seen wearing a fortune in coin jewellery; only upon closer inspection, they may turn out to be imitations.

Jewellery and sight: hiding from view

On the other side of seeing is invisibility. Some jewels, or other forms of personal aesthetic such as tattoos, are not meant to be seen by all and sundry. They are deliberately hidden from view, worn underneath clothing or, in the case of jewellery, decorated on the reverse side – the side only known to the person wearing it.

See an example with a hidden image from Oman here.

Jewellery and sight: aesthetics are not to be overlooked

As you see, the visual impact of jewellery is huge: it conveys status, identity, and cultural affiliation. It also depends on the distance between you and the viewer what the latter will see: a given you can make deliberate use of. And there is that which you want to keep private: playing with visibility and invisibility is one of the most powerful capacities of jewellery.

And that is also where research comes in: you’d have to realise you may be looking at visual codes, instead of just a pretty colour combination or lovely pattern, to fully understand the social and cultural context of the jewellery. Aesthetics are not simply decorative, but are deeply tied to the identities and traditions of the wearers. They tell us how these pieces function within their communities.

In the next installment on the sensory dimensions of jewellery, we’ll be looking at touch!

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References

[1] Sehasseh et. al. 2021, Early Middle Stone Age personal ornaments from Bizmoune Cave, Essaouira, Morocco, in: Science Advances vol. 7 no. 39. Read it here

[2] See for example this blog

[3] Menghin, W. 201. Der Berliner Goldhut. Macht, Magie und Mathemathik in der Bronzezeit. Schnell-Steiner

[4] M.M. Vale 2015. Siwa: Jewelry, Costume, and Life in an Egyptian Oasis. AUC Press, Cairo

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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, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on the jewellery of the Egyptian zar-ritual. 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.