Organizing: 5 quick tips

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Tips for collectors

five tips

Keeping track: 5 quick tips

Keeping track of your collection is essential: if you have not already, read 5 reasons why that matters here. But how to get started with that? Here are 5 quick tips on how to organize your collection!

Keep detailed records: Keeping detailed records of your collection is essential for documentation. This can include information such as the date of acquisition, the source of the piece, the materials used, any marks or hallmarks, and any other relevant information.

Use high-quality images: Take high-quality images of each piece in your collection. These images should be clear, well-lit, and taken from different angles. Label the images with information such as the piece’s number (if you have assigned one), and the date. Read more about photographing jewellery in this book. Pro-tip: take an image of the backside, too! Too often only the front side gets photographed, but the reverse can be instrumental in cases of theft or other disasters.

Keep copies of any paperwork: Keep copies of any paperwork that may be associated with a piece of jewellery, such as invoices, receipts, export papers, and appraisals. This can provide valuable information about the piece’s history and origin and build up the provenance in case you should decide to sell them later. Add these to your records.

Store your documentation securely: Not just your jewellery, but also its documentation and accompanying images should be safe. Store your documentation and images securely: a fireproof safe for actual original photos (those endless rolls of film from before the 90’s, for example) or a secure digital storage system for digital images and documentation. This will help to protect your records from damage or loss. An essential point for your insurance!

Share your documentation: This is an important point! Share your documentation and images with other collectors and experts. That is not to say you should put your entire collection online including its purchase details, but sharing images of your pieces online along with whatever you know about it, can provide valuable information about your collection. After all, the collective knowledge out there is enormous!

Of course, documentation can be time-consuming and it is simply not always possible to document everything about a piece. However, having a good documentation can help you and others to understand the significance of your collection, and it can also help you to take care of your pieces properly.

More tips on how to get started with collection management and how to set up a system is in this free e-book: happy documenting!

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.

Recognizing reproductions

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Tips for collectors

five tips

Reproductions: how to check for authenticity

Updated Jan 12, 2024

How to tell if a piece of ethnic jewellery is authentic? Many pieces are sold as “antique” or “traditional” when they are actually modern reproductions. But what is ‘authentic’, and how does that show in jewellery?

Authenticity in traditional jewellery from the Middle East and North Africa

First off, authenticity is a complex issue. Because who determines what ‘authentic’ is? [1] Often, the notion of authenticity is both visual and pinned to a moment in time: this is what it looked like then, and so this is what it is supposed to look like forever.

That is often the result of available sources like books and online image searches, as I wrote about here, that provide that reference of what jewellery should look like. But personal adornment is always subject to change, so comparing a piece of jewellery to an image frozen in time is not enough in itself.

Factors such as age, materials, craftsmanship, provenance, motifs, and designs should all be considered when determining the authenticity of a piece.

So, what should you look for? Here are 5 points to consider.

1. Age and patina in traditional jewellery

Older jewellery will show signs of age and wear, which can be relevant indicators of authenticity. Just picture in your mind how a bracelet has sat on a wrist for years, a necklace moved over textiles every day, an anklet jingled along with its wearer on her way to the market…Just like with humans, age shows.

Scratches, dents, and tarnish may indicate that a piece is authentic and has been used, rather than being a modern reproduction. But be aware: tarnish can have been artificially inflicted upon a piece as long ago as, well, yesterday.

Patina, that soft silk-like shimmer on a piece of jewellery as a result of years of contact and wear, is difficult to replicate in reproductions. So that can also be an indicator of authenticity.

And then there is the fact that there are truly antique pieces out there, that do not necessarily show signs of use and wear. Simply because they might not have been worn frequently or they have been carefully preserved over the years – read all about that phenomenon here.

Signs of use and wear alone are not definitive indicators of authenticity. Therefore, it’s important to consider these signs together with other indicators of authenticity, such as materials and craftsmanship, provenance, motifs and designs, and hallmarks and stamps.

2. Materials and craftsmanship of jewellery from the Middle East and North Africa

Craftsmanship can be a telling sign. Authentic traditional jewelry was made by skilled artisans who used techniques passed down from generations. These techniques, materials and designs are specific to each culture, region and timeframe and can be difficult to replicate in reproductions or forgeries.

As craftmanship varies even within the same culture and region, and also changes over time like anything else in personal adornment, it is absolutely essential to have a good understanding of the traditional techniques, materials, and designs specific to the culture, region and timeframe the jewelry is claimed to be from.

No piece is created equal, in terms of craftsmanship: some pieces will be more intricate, detailed, and finely made than others.

It really depends on the maker, the time period and the intended usage. For example: many silversmiths throughout the region were Jewish. After 1948, they migrated to Israel, leaving a lacuna in skill and knowledge behind. The finesse of their work is hard to imitate.

And as for materials, a main question is whether the material did exist in the period the piece is supposedly from – it would not be the first time you’ll find a necklace with early 20th century trade beads advertised as genuinely 18th century (and that is even without the possibility of the beads themselves being reproduced).

3. Motifs and designs: see, study, learn

Original jewellery often features unique motifs, patterns, and designs that are specific to the culture and region that the jewellery comes from.

This is where more research comes in: familiarizing yourself with particular motifs and the execution of those motifs requires lots of reading and, of course, seeing. One of the things I enjoy the most is endless comparing of pieces.

And as with many other fields of research, the devil is in the details: the overall composition may be featured in a wide area, but the execution of the details is mostly telling of the exact origin of a piece. Modern reproductions often get those tiny details not quite right, including the level of craftmanship, so getting a handle on these is key.

4. Hallmarks and stamps in vintage silver jewellery from Southwest Asia and North Africa

Check for the presence of hallmarks or stamps. These may indicate the metal content, maker, and sometimes the date of the piece. As they are mandatory, they can often not be forged (a modern reproduction of an old piece still needs a current hallmark to comply with the law). Checking for hallmarks that are contemporary with the period the piece is supposedly from, may help in determining its authenticity.

But, be aware that not all pieces are hallmarked, especially older ones. Most countries in North Africa and Southwest Asia only adopted a hallmarking system in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. Many pieces older than that will not have been hallmarked, or may have been hallmarked only when a piece was eventually sold.

5. Provenance: this can be of great help

And finally, there is the provenance of a piece that may help determine its authenticity. Provenance is the history of a piece of jewellery, and this is where the paperwork comes in.

Particularly for older pieces, provenance may help to establish whether a piece is indeed as old as is claimed: are there any sources that will confirm this exact piece has been in a family for decades? With traditional jewellery, this is a difficult path.

See 15 reasons why provenance matters in this article – did you ever think of reason no. 3?

Many heirloom pieces that are sold do not come with receipts of purchase, as they have been handed down within a family for generations. And like anything else, provenance can be forged, too: it’s not that difficult to provide an old-looking piece of paper (if it can be done with papyri, it can be done with receipts!).

Recognizing reproductions: learning by doing

Determining the authenticity of a piece of jewellery is a process that involves all of these together: the more you familiarize yourself with jewellery through handling, seeing and reading, the easier it will be to distinguish reproductions from authentic pieces!

–

More articles on jewellery research? Find them all here!

More on the background of jewellery? You might enjoy one of the e-courses!

Always the latest blog articles, book reviews and other jewellery news in your inbox? Join the Jewellery List and stay in the know!

—

References

[1] Broekhoven & A. Geurds 2013. Creating authenticity : authentication processes in ethnographic museums. Sidestone Press (read online for free)

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.

How to store ethnic silver

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Tips for collectors

four tips

How to store ethnic silver: 4 proven methods

Updated Jan 11, 2024

How do I store my traditional jewellery from the Middle East? That’s a question I get a lot, and definitely a field I made mistakes in myself. So I’m sharing four proven methods of what works, and what does not work: let’s get to it!

Storing silver jewellery: what you should know first

Before we get to tucking away your collection safely, there are a few things to know about silver itself.

Silver tarnishes easily: when exposed to air and moisture, but there are many other sources that cause a chemical reaction in the silver. That includes people: I’m sure you know several people whose silver jewellery turns dark after a day of wearing, and others whose silver shines even brighter after that same day!

It’s also a relatively soft material that scratches and dents faster than you might like, and vintage silver items are no different. Storing and handling silver always should come with the protection of your items in mind. So here are 4 tips to start storing your silver jewellery in an optimal way!

Storing traditional silver: keep your pieces separate

Store each piece individually and make sure it does not rub against other items. This can be achieved in the simplest way by just wrapping them in acid-free tissue paper, anti-tarnish paper or soft cloth (but not wool).

Larger items, such as complete sets of fibulas for example, can be wrapped in bubble plastic, again taking care that the individual fibulas are kept from direct contact.

Make sure your pieces are clean and dry

If you wear your vintage jewellery, make sure it is clean and dry before you store your items away. Sweat and skin contact can damage silver in the long run, so wipe them off and make sure they are dry before storing them.

The same goes for when they have just been cleaned: wait until they are completely dry before storing them, or better, have a professional clean them instead. More about cleaning silver is here.

Keep your silver pieces locked away from air

Store them in an airtight box or individual zip pouches. Zip pouches come in many sizes: choose the size that fits your piece snugly, but gives it room to move a little. Wrap your pieces in acid free paper before putting them into a zip pouch: the pouch itself may contain abrasive materials that could scratch your silver.

Airtight boxes don’t have to be anything fancy, but can simply be the type of box you store food in (refridgerator boxes, but also cookiejars work well – make sure they have no rubber bands, though).

Adding silica gel (those little packages that come with new shoes, handbags and other leather products) or activated charcoal will absorb moisture and keep your silver from tarnishing.

Avoid direct contact of these materials with your silver, though: make sure the packaging is not damaged.

… and don’t do this

Do not wrap your silver in pages torn from newspapers or magazines: both the ink and the paper will harm it. The same goes for the use of rubber bands (no bundling bracelets together using rubber bands, please)

Those rustic looking, uncoated wooden boxes that make for excellent atmospheric photos are not as fantastic for storing silver, either, unless it is packaged in zip pouches. That also applies to wooden chests of drawers, cabinets and cupboards: avoid direct contact, and even then, check regularly.

Wool also contains agents that may react with silver: that explains why silver elements on a woolen headdress for example turn dark every so often.

Taking care to store your silver properly will go a long way in helping you enjoy your collection for years to come!

—

More tips on organizing your collection of silver jewellery? Find them all here!

Need help organizing your collection? Get my free guide to help you get started here!

Want the latest blog posts and jewellery news delivered to you? Join the Jewellery List and brighten up your inbox!

—

References

Learn more about silver tarnishing and how to avoid it 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.

How to clean ethnic silver

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Tips for collectors

three methods

How to clean ethnic silver

Updated Jan 10, 2024

How to clean ethnic silver jewellery? And should silver even be cleaned in the first place? This article gives 3 practical methods – and what mistakes to avoid!

Should I clean ethnic silver jewellery?

Jumping right in here: that dull layer with which you found it in that antique store or in that dusty market stall…? That is not ‘authentic’ or ‘original’: the previous wearer would have taken pride in her jewellery glinting in the sunlight. Wearing it on a daily basis would itself have contributed to that shine. So yes, I do recommend to clean your jewellery.

Also, that dark coating you may have found it with, is not ‘patina’: this is just plain dirt. Seeing people claim that you should not clean darkened, dusty silver because of its ‘patina’ just makes me want to scream, in all honesty. Such lack of insight is actually endangering the quality of your jewellery.

Over-cleaning, however, should be avoided. Once the major layers of dirt and grime have been removed, a little tarnish actually protects your silver. Every time you clean it, you remove just the tiniest bit of the surface, leaving your silver exposed to another ‘tarnish-attack’.

You will want to keep an eye on how it develops, but don’t clean it too often.

And finally: proper cleaning of a heritage item is a professional’s job. You don’t attempt to restore a painting by yourself, either, right? The above considerations by the way all stem from my experience in the museum world. That includes the fabulous work restorers do, and how wrong choices regarding object maintenance gives them nightmares.

In any case: when you do need to clean silver, here are 3 methods that you can use at home, along with their advantages and disadvantages.

Before you start cleaning your ethnic jewellery…

…read this, if you haven’t already. There are a few things to consider before cleaning, that have to do with the silver content of your jewellery, loss of information and proper documentation.

The tips I’m sharing with you below are relevant to jewellery entirely made of good silver. If your jewellery contains any other materials such as wood, enamel, coral, beads, or is of an unknown alloy, bring it to a professional instead.

Another check to do before you start cleaning is the construction of the piece. Hollow pieces, such as amulet containers or anklets, should not be in contact with water: when water gets in, it is very difficult to get out and it may damage your piece from the inside out. For these, I recommend seeking help of a professional cleaner, too.

Because as I said earlier, cleaning and restoring jewellery is an actual profession. It requires years of study and a serious understanding of chemistry, metallurgy, gemmology and much more.

Anything more complex than a solid silver piece benefits from the care of a professional, so if you do own complex or composite pieces, or are having doubts whether your should attempt to clean anything yourself: do yourself a favour and treat your jewellery to a spa day with someone who knows what they’re doing. Ok?

Method 1: cleaning cloth

Silver can show discoloration after a while. It gets a little duller, and may show a yellowish or dark hue. This is easily remedied by buffing it with a silver cleaning cloth: all you do is rub firmly. Usually when your fingers start to hurt, this is a good sign you’re well on your way and you will see the silver surface return to its soft shimmer. This is sufficient for most jewellery as part of your regular upkeep.

Pro: easy to do

Con: basically nothing, although those fingers hurting is real

Method 2: polishing

When silver has turned black, you may need to polish it using an agent. Precipitated chalk works wonders. The chalk needs to be mixed with water to create a thick paste. Start with three teaspoons of chalk and add a quarter to half a teaspoon of water, stir the water in and continue to add small amounts of water as much as needed until you have a paste.

Rub the paste on the silver using a cotton pad (or a super soft toothbrush, like for babies, for intricate silverwork such as granulation) and gently polish the surface. After polishing, rinse the object thoroughly and make sure no dried chalk is left.

This method is unsuitable for hollow objects, as the rinsing may cause water and chalk residu to end up inside your ornament. Bring these to a professional.

Pro: works really wel

Con: chalk needs to be extremely finely ground to avoid scratching, your brush may also cause scratching, intricate designs need to be rinsed thoroughly, can not be used on hollow objects. Removes a bit of the surface: it will tarnish faster if not stored well.

Method 3: baking soda

The black tarnish can also be removed by submerging it in a baking soda bath. This reverses the process that caused the tarnishing.

Line a bowl with aluminum foil, add a couple of tablespoons of baking soda, sprinkle in some salt and add boiling water. When the water calms down after bubbling, submerge your silver items and let soak.

Again: do not use this method on items that contain anything else than silver, like beads, coral, enamel etcetera, or on hollow pieces.

Once you put your item in, you will see it cleaning up within seconds. Take the silver out as soon as the tarnish disappears (use gloves!), rinse under lukewarm water, dry thoroughly with a soft cloth and polish with a polishing cloth.

Pro: cleans very fast

Con: unsuitable for hollow objects, pieces you don’t know the silver content of, and pieces with anything else than silver. Removes a bit of the surface: it will tarnish faster if not stored well.

Cleaning ethnic jewellery: keep track of what you did

And finally, make a note of your cleaning treatment in your object files. What you will want to note here are the date and the type of treatment, and if needed a before-and-after picture. This will help you keep up with your routine checks on your collection: silver should be polished as little as possible, and a cleaning log helps to keep track!

Cleaning ethnic silver jewellery: the round-up

So, as you see, the decision to clean ethnic jewellery is one that requires some thought. Don’t start overcleaning it, but don’t let it get too dirty, either. One thing is certain: leaving it grimy is not authentic, and even outright damaging to your jewellery. And when in doubt, bring your jewellery to a professional restorer – this way, you’ll have the best of both worlds!

—

More tips for collectors? Browse them all here!

Join the Jewellery List and find regular jewellery news in your inbox!

—

References

Read more here on treatment of silver and copper alloy objects (opens a pdf)

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.

Collecting ethnic jewellery: 4 filters

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Tips for collectors

collecting traditional jewellery

Collecting ethnic jewellery: 4 filters you may not be aware of

Collecting jewellery and dress: we do it because we believe these items to be important, and we want to ensure their passing on into the future. But there is one aspect of collecting that can turn it into a double-edged sword. On the one hand, yes, these items sometimes only survive because of collecting. But an overlooked aspect of collecting is its other side: collecting inevitably is destructive as well. How does that work, and should we be worried?

Selection filter 1: the course of history

First off, no material culture survives in its entirety. That is already visible within your own lifetime: who still has everything (and I mean everything) like clothing, toys, books etc. from their youth? At some point, you have decided to keep some things and give others away. A process that repeats itself again and again: selecting is a natural process. That goes for adornment and dress, too. Whether it is family heirlooms passed down generations or pieces offered for sale to cultural outsiders, whatever survives to this day is based on selections. Even what you inherit from your grandmother is her personal selection: at least I’m assuming she did not own all jewellery in existence.⁠ So, when you collect jewellery, this is already a selection as a result of the choices made during the wearer’s life. These choices do not have to be voluntarily: people displaced as a result of war and violence may not have been able to hang on to anything at all.

Jewellery selection filter 2: demand and supply

Whatever ends up being offered to buyers, is filtered a second time. This is where it gets interesting. Because buyers get offered what sells: as with any market, here as well demand is tied to offer.⁠ And that second filter is incredibly important. Pieces that do not ‘sell well’ slowly disappear from the material record. An example is jewellery that has been partly dismantled when its wearer needed to sell some of it. These ‘damaged goods’ are not always recognized for what they are: a historic source.⁠ After all, buyers, especially if these are cultural outsiders, rarely appreciate dented and broken pieces. As a result, these are the first to go. They are melted down, reused, and any material traces of the use of jewellery as financial asset and savings account vanish with them.

Jewellery selection filter 3: focusing on published, well-known pieces

The next stage is that the selected pieces, the ones that sell well, then become the norm. These are the pieces that get shown in exhibitions, that are published in books and shared online. That fame creates a third filter, because it increases demand into these better-known pieces. The flip side of this is that relatively unknown pieces never make the cut: they do not sell well, as they are not all that familiar to the prospective buyer. I often get asked whether a certain piece is ‘real’ as it has no parallels in books, and I know of several books that are used as a collectors’ manual. That is not to say books are useless! Quite the contrary, I love books and all sorts of publications on jewellery: the more the better to help spread awareness that this is heritage. The point is to be aware that there is more out there than books can accommodate.

Another symptom is the rejection of pieces that are not exactly similar to well-known parallels: a whole new set of parameters for ‘authentic’ pieces emerges based on publications, while the original wearers did not consider such distinctions relevant and worked with what they had at hand. It’s an endless loop that results in the gradual loss of both things and information.

Jewellery selection filter 4: collecting only things, not their context

That last element, information, is the fourth filter. The focus on collecting objects and not necessarily on all the information that comes with it, in turn deletes that information over time. Things without context are just that: random things. They lose their capacity to speak and their function as a historic source. If collectors don’t write down what they know about their pieces, how will the next generation know what they’re looking at…?⁠ I have addressed a few examples of how that lack of knowledge results in misinformation being spread here. It is incredibly important to preserve not only things, but also what they stand for – while being aware that this is only a fraction of a much wider world.

Building a meaningful jewellery collection: actionable things you can do today

Collecting is by definition selecting. We only see part of the material culture, and that does not even have to be a representative part. No matter how beautiful or extensive a collection is: you’re always working with a result of a chain of selections, never with the original dataset.⁠ That is simply the way it is, and thank goodness that not every single thing is kept – what would we do with it? My point is that it is important to be aware of this process when collecting, buying or selling.

Your actions in each of these steps actively contribute to the safeguarding of heritage jewellery. Here are a few things you can start with today:

Write down those stories of your jewellery travels.

Digitize those receipts (if you have any).

Jot down a few lines in your notebook when a seller shared a piece of information with you.

Download my free guide to organize your collection step by step here and start building not just a collection, but your legacy.

Every little bit helps. It’s in these seemingly small acts that you can contribute a great deal to the preserving of jewellery and the world it comes from!

—

Do you own a collection? Please do try and document it as much as possible. Every little note helps! A free guide on how to get started with that is here.

Are you wondering how your collection might benefit the communities whose heritage this is? Please consider the work of the Qilada Foundation, my non-profit initiative aimed at reconnecting jewellery collections with their communities of origin.

References

An introductory article on the history of collecting as a phenomenon is W.G.Burgess 2020, State of the Field: The History of Collecting, in: History

The Society for the History of Collecting covers the concept collecting from many angles: see more here

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.