Travelling with Alexine Tinne
Decoding Habiba’s jewellery
Published March 01, 2024
Dutch traveller and photographer Alexine Tinne did not travel on her own. She had gathered a large group of people around her, and many of these are known by name. One of her companion travellers was Habiba. And from her photos, we may learn more about her as a person.
Habiba: travelling with Alexine Tinne
Habiba was photographed as a traveling companion, both by Alexine herself and by photographers in towns they visited. The photo above (click to enlarge it) was made in Naples, for example. We know her name because it was added to her photos in some cases. She is in several photographs of Alexine’s group, and also features in Alexine’s letters back home.
Read more about her life and photographs in this article.
Where she came from however, is never mentioned. Her jewellery may provide a clue, so let’s have a look at that!
Decoding jewellery: Habiba’s earrings
From a hand-coloured photograph in the municipal archives of The Hague (click to enlarge it), it would appear as if her jewellery was of gold. As all photographs in these days were black and white, it’s difficult to tell if this was actually the case.
Her earrings are of a very specific type. This type of earring was worn in the western oases of Egypt. Nowadays, they are notably associated with Bahariya Oasis. Their name is halaq saqawi, meaning ‘earrings that look like a whater-wheel’. [1] Fahkry suggests the inhabitants of the oases may have purchased them from the Fayyum, or even Cairo. [2]
Although these are most often in silver, they also existed in gold: according to Weissenberger, the difference between gold and silver earrings is that the dome of gold earrings would be executed in filigree. [3]
In Habiba’s time, these earrings were already described by Edward Lane. He does not attribute them to the western oases specifically, however: Lane observed daily life most often in and around Cairo. [4]
Such an earring in gold is shown in the gallery above. The tiny turquoise [5] in the centre of both earrings would keep the evil eye at a distance, as would the glittering of gold in the sunlight and the constant swaying of the dangles. The small discs of sheet gold catch and reflect the light: imagine how sparkling that must have looked on this lady, wearing such a pair!
Decoding jewellery: Habiba’s amulet container
In another photo taken during the same session, Habiba is shown wearing an amulet container. You’ll find it above: click to enlarge it and see its details.
Lane describes this ornament as one of the things a wealthy lady would be wearing. He describes how these containers, called higab, were worn suspended from a silk string. The string would be worn over the left shoulder, so that the amulet container would hang to the right – exactly as Habiba is wearing it. [6]
The case itself, as he describes it, was made of embossed silver or gold. It’s difficult to see, but the amulet case in the image may indeed have been decorated with embossing. It features a series of dangles underneath: their jingling movement would help in keeping evil away.
Decoding jewellery: Habiba’s coin necklaces
But, there are also hints in these photos that although she may have been wealthy, she is not necessarily a woman of the elite. That is mostly visible from the way she wears her headscarf, and her other jewellery.
Habiba is shown wearing necklaces of coins. These are also visible on the photo shown together with the earrings above, which depicts an Egyptian fellaha or farmer around 1870.
And an even more striking parallel to Habiba’s jewellery is found in the photo of the woman above (click to enlarge it): the same earrings and coin necklaces. This is very much a posed photo: the smoking is a tell-tale sign. This photo was taken in the studios of Otto Schoefft. It is part of a series called Le Caire Pittoresque, and most of the photos in this series were taken in either the Cairo studio or the vicinity of Cairo. [7]
Habiba: a woman from the Cairo region?
Based on the way she is dressed, ties her headscarf and selects her other jewellery, I’m inclined to think Habiba is from the region around Cairo. As you see in the photo above, which shows a dress from Bahariya oasis, her dress is different. [8] She does not wear any of the other characteristic jewellery from the oases: and as we have seen, her earrings may have been popular in a far wider region than they are now usually attributed to.
What is noteworthy however, is that she mostly keeps wearing the same jewellery in all photos known of her: the same earrings and necklaces. Only the amulet container is rarely seen.
That overall continuity means that she has not had to sell them – apparently her position as servant in Alexine’s household had her basic needs covered. But on the other hand, there is no increase in jewellery to be observed, so there would not be much to save, either.
In the end, Habiba survived the Tuareg attack that killed Alexine. She inherited a small amount of money, but where she decided to live out her life is not known. I wonder if there are still descendants of hers…!
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References
[1] M. Weissenberger 1998, Le bijou des oasis égyptiennes, in: Bliss, F. 1998. Artisanat et artisanat d’art dans les oasis du désert occidental égyptien, Studien zur Kulturkunde 109, p. 311. Also Azza Fahmy 2007, Enchanted Jewelry of Egypt, p. 91 for an image.
[2] A. Fakhry 2003 (1974). Bahariyah and Farafra, AUC Press, p. 42.
[3] M. Weissenberger 1998, Le bijou des oasis égyptiennes, in: Bliss, F. 1998. Artisanat et artisanat d’art dans les oasis du désert occidental égyptien, Studien zur Kulturkunde 109, p. 311.
[4] E. Lane 1842, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, vol 2, p. 404-405.
[5] Lane describes them with a ruby; a red stone would have had a similar effect.
[6] E. Lane 1842, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, vol 2, p. 411.
[7] F. Thürlemann 2016. Das Haremsfenster. Zur fotografischen erorbering Agyptens im 19. Jahrhundert, p. 49-83.
[8] See Shahira Mehrez 2023, Costumes of Egypt vol. I.
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.