Vanity and faith

Silver grooming sets from Afghanistan: everyday tools with many meanings

Published May 27, 2025

Among the many forms of Afghan silver jewellery, one of the most charming is the silver grooming set. You’ll find them every now and then for sale on the Internet, and their description usually does not extend beyond ‘Kuchi grooming set’ or ‘Kuchi earspoon’. At first sight, these small pendants might look like simple trinkets, but they combine multiple roles: they were functional tools for personal care, amulets believed to offer protection, and jewellery worn as part of dress. Exploring them reveals how everyday objects could hold layered meanings in traditional Afghan culture, so let’s have a look at these!

Silver grooming tools from Afghanistan and cultural traditions

What do these tools look like? Typically, you’ll see them as an earspoon and a toothpick suspended from a ring: that is the basic pairing of tools. More elaborate sets also carry a pair of tweezers, they may be combined with other items such as perfume containers or kohl applicators.

Their use is not limited to Afghanistan, you’ll find these tiny items in many cultures around the world. And in all those cultures, their execution and style places them in the realm of jewellery: they have been designed and produced in the same styles as the local jewellery has.

They are small and portable, practical in everyday life, but also for hosting: Janata mentions that wealthier families in Afghanistan would have a set of these in their guest chambers – how’s that for hospitality? [1] The toothpick and earspoon allowed the user to maintain personal hygiene throughout the day, and were worn by both men and women. [2] And there is more to these than just vanity. In staying clean, one was also protecting oneself from the dangers of impurity – both social and spiritual. So, how does that work?

Spiritual and protective roles of Afghan silver grooming sets

You might think these are just vanity sets, aimed at keeping presentable throughout the day. But that is not all they do. In the Islamic tradition, personal hygiene is not a superficial concern. Cleanliness is repeatedly emphasized in religious texts: not only as a virtue, but as a form of protection. It’s believed that jinn are particularly attracted to filth and unclean environments. [3]

In this context, grooming is not just self-care; it’s spiritual defence. These silver tools were made for precisely that purpose: to maintain cleanliness in everyday situations as an act of faith.

But…that is also where the dilemma is.

The dilemma of beauty and the Evil Eye

Because these are pretty things, they may be dangerous. Jinn enjoy dirt, but they also love shining objects. Beauty attracts their jealousy and brings danger to humans. And these silver earspoons, tweezers, toothpicks….they shine!

In many communities across North Africa and Southwest Asia, beauty is not seen as harmless. It draws attention – and attention can bring harm. The concept of the evil eye (see much more about that in this blog article) is widespread, and believed to affect those who are particularly fortunate, healthy, or aesthetically pleasing. Shiny objects, in particular, are thought to attract jinn or malicious spirits, which are drawn to brightness.

And even worse, jinn may possess humans by entering them through the openings in the body: nose, ears, mouth…exactly those places you would be caring for with one of these tools. What if your shining, gleaming earspoon actually guides a jinn to your body?

How to reconcile these two points of view?

From grooming tools to Afghan silver jewellery and amulets

The solution is elegant and simple: they were made with built-in amuletic features. Tiny bells were attached, not just for aesthetic pleasure, but for their sound, intended to scare off harmful spirits. Beads in blue, a colour commonly associated with protective properties in the region, were also common. Red glass insets flash like a warning sign.

In this way, these grooming tools are hybrid objects. They are tools of hygiene and piety, but also talismans of protection. Their ambiguous nature reflects the balance their wearers sought to maintain: to remain clean and healthy, without drawing negative attention through their beauty.

Why Afghan silver grooming sets matter: context is everything

Silver grooming sets from Afghanistan blur the lines between the everyday and the symbolic. They were tools for hygiene, pieces of Afghan silver jewellery, and objects of faith. For the Kuchi and other Afghan communities, their value lay not only in their usefulness but also in their role as protective amulets. They are examples of how the everyday object, in traditional cultures, is rarely just ‘everyday’.

To use an earspoon or toothpick was not a private act of vanity. It has cultural and religious significance, too. It was part of being a clean, pious, and protected person. This dual role of ordinary objects is often overlooked, but once you catch a glimpse of the context they were used in, they make much more sense – and become even more meaningful!

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References

[1] Janata, A. 1981. Silberschmuck aus Afghanistan, Graz, p. 180.

[2] Idem, p. 180.

[3] See my book Silver & Frankincense on how this works, or join the course on Scents of the Middle East

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