The Maker's Mark is Historical Information

A few weeks ago, I sold a bridal dowry amulet or hirz from my collection.  It was signed by the maker, as so many of the finely made hirzes are.  The maker's  name was Ebrahem Saleh.  Here is a photo of that particular amulet.  The gallery did not store a photo of the signature, but this is the very amulet that Ebrahem Saleh signed after making it some time before the 1940's when all the silversmiths emigrated from Yemen to Israel.

Antique Yemen Silver Amulet Signed by Maker Ebraheem Saleh - in gallery of sold items

Just this week, I found another interesting Yemen silver hirz when I was rummaging through another box of such amulets from Yemen, which I consider to be important pieces of Judaica .  My website has a special section for the Yemen Jewish silversmith work, all made before they emigrated from Yemen to Israel in the 1940s.  This amulet, too, is made by someone named Saleh.  This one is signed by Yahia Saleh: 

Antique Yemen Amulet Signed by Maker Yahia Saleh from Fine Collection - listed for sale

If the silversmiths signed their names with the family name first, then there may not be a genetic relationship between the two men, but if they signed their names as English speakers would sign, with the family name last, then there probably was a family relationship.  Their designs are very similar, as you can see.  The horizontal beaded wire strips between rows of diamond shapes and florets with almost identical decorative ends and the same shape of bails or loops for hanging the amulets.  This would lead me to believe that they were working in the same shop in the Sana'a region of Yemen.  

What do you think?  Your comments are invited. 

See more antique silver jewelry HERE. 

Antique Silver Bedihi Beads from Yemen

The century old Mediterranean red coral beads are the natural accompaniment to the numerous silver Bedihi beads on this fine necklace from Yemen.  In the market place the same beads are called berry beads, especially the small ones.

Antique Rare Silver Bedihi Berry and Coral Beaded Necklace from Yemen 

Veronica Wainstein is the owner of arabiafelixjewels and an expert on Yemen jewelry.  From her I learned that  'The Bedihi family was one of the most famous of Yemeni Jewish jewellers in the last two centuries. Their exquisite granulation work, the berry beads and the dugag cylinder beads show the expertise of these jewellers. The main dugag beads are all hallmarked by the artist. All Yemeni  jewels  hallmarked are from before 1940.'

The detailed granulation in the beads that seem to be built drop by drop with a lot of open space showing even in the small beads.  This allows the beads to make a strong impact without being too heavy for comfort.  

The pendant shaped as a crown with the dangles is capped with a larger Bedihi bead and there are two more on the side strings of coral and Bedihi beads.  The crown shaped pendant is an ornament usually worn hanging from the headband or head covering; a pair of such ornaments hang on each side of the face.  

Coral beads, Bedihi beads and often the beautiful Bawsani beads hang by the pound on a bride wearing her dowry on her wedding day.  The wedding jewelry will probably also include some dugag beads that are usually signed by the maker.  They are large hollow globe beads that wear so beautifully and develop a fine patina.  See an example here: 

Antique Yemen Silver Bead Pendant Signed by Silversmith   

Necklaces, head covers, earrings, bracelets, armlets worn above the elbow, rings on all the fingers and even on her toes tax the brides in wealthy families with a heavy burden on her wedding day.  No wonder we always see her seated in the wedding pictures. 

Here is a detailed view of the necklace above: 

Available at CraftsofthePast studio

I invite you to visit the studio and see this and the other Judaica available there. 

Judaica - the Material Objects and the Spiritual Meanings

The classification 'Judaica' refers to things related to the Judean culture from its establishment in ancient times up to the present.  Naturally the things of the material culture such as the menorah, the mezuzah and the kippah are easily recognized by those outside the Jewish religion.  These material objects also carry spiritual meaning as well as being art objects.  The mezuzah carried written prayers and blessings.  The menorah was a part of the ancient tabernacle that the prophet Moses set up.  It is still used in both Jewish synagogues and Christian churches.  The kippah is a head covering that is often beautifully decorated with geometric shapes in fancy needlework for school boys and brides, in particular.  It implies a dedication to a certain way of life.

Filigree pendant worn by Yemen brides on their kirdan or bridal dowry necklaces

In addition to these common modern objects, there exists among certain Jewish communities in diaspora beautiful traditional jewelry and clothing that are quite distinctive and are growing quite rare at present.  As an example in my own experience is this antique mezuzah, also called a hirz, q'tub or amulet.  They are always worn as a pendant either sewn to the clothing or strung on a cord or chain to be worn.  For example in the community of Jews in Yemen in the early 1900s, Jewish brides wore amulets such as this one:

Antique Yemen Yemenite Silver Signed Amulet Hirz Kutub Pendant

Here is a fuller explanation of some of my Yemen jewelry collection or the Yemenite Judaica at the site linked here:

 This amulet is decorated with dangles with small bell like beads attached. This amulet was once worn by at least one Yemeni bride as part of her dowry and then again at the birth of each of her children. It would have hung on a multi-strand kirdan, a bib or yoke strung with large silver hollow beads, amber or coral beads, and as many as six of small hirzes with one large amulet or hirz hanging from a matching plaque. 

Dowries are still a part of the marriage arrangement between the two families that are being joined through the union of bride and groom. The amulets contained the prayers or scriptures that symbolized the sanctity of the union. 

From the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, such amulets were created from silver that was melted down either from Maria Teresa thalers or from jewelry that belonged to the previous generation. The prospective groom was expected to bring a hefty bit of silver to the bride. This was in turn melted and refashioned into silver beads and amulets, bracelets, hair ornaments, anklets and rings for Yemen brides to wear as their wedding finery. 

This custom also provided them a dowry, their store of silver to give them security, as their dowry was their own property. Silver in the form of beautiful jewelry also gave the woman status among her peers. She was not always the only woman in a household. And of course, the load of silver jewelry adorning her from the top of her head to the tip of her toes made her even more beautiful on her wedding day. Poorer brides simply rented the wedding finery from jewelers who kept wedding jewelry on hand. 

The bride would have worn this amulet as a blessing and a prayer for her health, safety and happiness. Since this is a relatively small amulet, it probably hung on a cord with other amulets, one being the large one that opened to insert the actual prayers.

Because the Yemen Jewish community emigrated to Israel in the early 1900s, there are no more such pieces being created in Yemen. 

Such rare items provide very special focal pieces for jewelry designers or are sold individually as I am offering this one. With organic beads such as amber, coral, horn, bone, wood and shells they fit in with ethnic designs very well. It is also spectacular when strung with lapis, turquoise or carnelian, obsidian and smaller silver bead separators. 

Such an amulet is very distinctive worn alone on this silver chain, though the chain was manufactured in modern times. 

Measurements: 
Length of Chain - 18 inches - 45.6 cm
Dimensions of Pendant - 1 x 2.75 inches - 2.5 cm x 7 cm

Antique Silver Bead Signed by Iraqi Haron, made in Yemen

Antique Yemen silver bead ca 75 years old

We are so pleased to have found a man in Yemen who could translate the stylized signatures written in the archaic Arabic in use as late as 1900. We sent photos of our beads to the translator in Yemen who graciously 'read' out the names. This one was a puzzle to him, because he did not know that Iraqi could be a Hebrew name. I mention Hebrew here, since the Yemenite Jews were the silversmiths that created so much of the jewelry for the wedding customs in Yemen of the 1800s and 1900s. The translator did not know the history of the Jews and that Iraq had many Jews from the times of various diasporas. 

Those familiar with the Hebrew scriptures (what Christians call the Old Testament) know that often a given name was accompanied with a place name. Up into New Testament times, we read Saul of Tarsus, Jesus of Nazareth and many other such names. So it would not be unusual that such a tradition should hold among a tightly knit community of minority people in a place such as Iraq or Yemen. 

This bead is an important cultural artifact of the Yemenites, especially of the work of the Jewish silversmiths. Such beads were usually strung on necklace with amulets for the bride to wear on her wedding day and then own as a dowry, such as in this photograph (see more information on this piece here.  This culture no longer exists in Yemen. By 1948, the silversmith workshops had closed and the artisans had gone to the state of Israel. 

This bead is a handsome ornament when hung on a chain or cord, or used as the focus of a beaded necklace, such as I have done in this design put together with a bead much like the one that is the subject of this blog entry. 

See more information on this necklace HERE.

Dimensions of signed bead in first photo: 34 mm (1.33 in) x 36 mm (1.4 in)

To purchase the bead signed by Iraqi Haron, CLICK  HERE.

Out of Yemen Bead by Bead, Traditional Jewelry Disappears

Antique Yemen Silver Bead Pendant Signed by Silversmith on Sterling

antique Yemen signed silver bead pendant

This large silver bead from the late eighteenth or early twentieth century in Yemen is decorated not only with the signature of its maker but also with two handmade carnelian beads and smaller silver beads. The traditional pattern applied to the large spherical bead is called by at least two different names: lentil and starshot. Since this style of bead is not made of filigree or dots or granules of silver all over the surface, its smoother surface allows the silversmith a place for his signature. 

This one is indeed signed as was the traditional practice. The bead has been worn a lot and the signature is quite worn, as are the decorations on the bead. It is thereby graced with a beautifully balanced patina. It has been in our collection for several years and we have never polished it, only buffed it lightly with a soft cloth. Moreover, it had not been polished with chemicals before we collected it. 

It is an eyecatching adornment and needs no other surrounding decoration. So I simply fashioned a sterling silver wire choker or torq and hung the lovely old bead on it. The bead itself was made of coin silver from the Maria Theresa thaler of the Hapsburg Empire, a coin that was being used by Europeans from about the mid-1800s to the early 1900s to buy Yemen exports such as coffee and frankincense. 

The neck wire encircles the old Hebrew document

You are quite familiar with coffee, but many moderns do not know frankincense. It is secreted from the Boswellia tree or shrub and is used in worship services as incense. It was used in Yemen to make amber beads as well. In fact, the Yemeni people use the same word for 'amber' and for 'bead.' The frankincense resin is not quite a hard fossil like the Baltic amber. But it is hard enough to make the old irregularly shaped beads, really just globs of frankincense resin that have been bored through and strung. They make very attractive primitive style beads. Much of Yemen's oldest extant jewelry includes such beads. 

It was for this substance and for the coffee beans -- some of which were roasted 'arabica' style in Yemen before export -- that the Europeans brought the silver thalers from which this bead and the smaller bead baubles were made. Agates such as carnelian and quartz are also highly prized in Yemen. The Yemenis still export the clear quartz agate beads that do not show the large crystals as might be expected of quartz; rather they are somehow clear and smooth in appearance. The carnelians on this pendant are not from Yemen; They are from India. They bear the characteristics of handmade beads, in that the bead hole was bored by hand. It does not go straight through the small carnelian beads and it is quite a bit smaller at the interior joining of the bore that was made first from one side of the bead and then from the other. 

Pendant Measurements: 35 mm x 84 mm (1.4 in x 3.25 in, including carnelians and small silver baubles) 
Torq Length: 18 inches (46 cm)

For purchasing information see my website at http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/craftsofthepast/5061831/

The Ornamental Dagger of Yemen

Antique Yemen Inscribed Ornate Silver Dagger in Sheath Still Usable

Yemen Inscribed Ornate Silver Dagger in Sheath

This dagger or jambiya is one of the old daggers forged and decorated by the superb Yemenite Jewish silversmiths that emigrated to Israel in the early 1900s and took their artistic knowledge and ability with them. 

The sheath is decorated profusely with granulation and inlay, and is partially wrapped in a soft black leather. The dagger is still sharp and is in usable condition. The loops attached to leather wrapping serve to attach the dagger to the clothing of the wearer of the dagger. 

Such daggers are worn by Moslem men. This particular one is inscribed with the name 'Daoud' or David written in Arabic. He was probably the owner and wearer of this fine piece. The antique daggers are worn as a status symbol because of the financial value. Yemen still has metalsmiths that create imitations of these magnificent pieces, but the material and the silversmith's techniques are inferior. Many of recent manufacture are made as simply decorative items and are not meant to be used. 

The old jambiyas are to be worn on an elaborately woven belt woven originally by men but the art is now being taught to younger women. As explained by Marta Colburn, a frequent traveler to Yemen:

Men in Yemen do not commonly wear jewelry, except for silver rings. The one exception is the decorative dagger called a jambia, which is a common item of dress for most highland Yemeni men. The jambia has great symbolic value establishing one's place in social hierarchies and tribal membership, though it is rarely used as a weapon. The j-shaped version of this dagger, asib, is worn by tribesmen, while judges, legal scholars and religious elites wear a more gently-curved version called a thuma or tuza .... This version worn by elites often displays very intricate and exquisite silver craftsmanship on the sheath.

The belt is an important decorative and functional element of the jambia. Leather is covered with velvet and other fabric embellished with geometric or religious designs in metallic gold or silver thread. The designs may be embroidered or, as in the case of my belt, tablet-woven brocade. Traditionally various silver crafted items would be sewn to the belt for decorative and functional purposes (powder horn, money pouch and amulets). -- Marta Colburn

This dagger was collected from an antiques dealer in Yemen. 

Your inquiry is invited. 

Measurements:

Sheathed Dagger - 2.5 in x 14 in (6.3 cm x 35.5 cm)

For purchasing information see CraftsofthePast .

Jingle Bells on Yemenite Women's Belts

Antique Yemen Large Silver Belt with Dozens of Large Bell Dangles

This antique belt from Yemen is made for a woman to add to her dowry, not typically shown as part of her wedding garment. However, the older Yemenite Jewish immigrant to Israel is shown in the illustration above wearing some of the customary wedding finery along with the married woman's fancy silver belt with carnelian jewels embedded in the buckle.

The belt from my collection that I am listing for sale has around a hundred tinkling bell dangles similar to those sported in the above illustration of the Yemenite woman's costume. The belt that is offered here for sale has much the same intricate design of links as you can see that each identical column of silver diamond shapes is linked securely to the next for the whole length of the belt, which is 29.5 in or 75 cm of links, not including the elaborate buckle parts. The links are still in perfect working order, as are the buckle and fastener. The bells show the wear and tear of the last 75 years, but there is no lack of bells, which are distributed generously along the length of the belt.

Now comes the mystery of the buckle on this traditional belt created for the Yemenite Jewish woman by a Yemenite Jewish silversmith, probably in the shops at Sana'a, the capital, where the Jewish housewives had a lively social community and wore costuming suitable to their status. 

For some reason this exquisitely designed and fabricated belt buckle with the same pattern that we see in many of the incredibly beautiful inlaid filigree and rosette designs of the Bawsani bracelets has acquired what I call a 'cultural accretion.' On top of one side of the beautiful Bawsani filigree and rosette buckle, we see a specially designed a cut out of glass pieces set in a plain plaque soldered over the original design. 

Why it should happen is a mystery, but there it is. I suppose that is what makes this belt truly ethnic jewelry; the variety of aesthetic standards is shown, because cultural objects are handmade to fit the taste of the owner, not uniformly manufactured for the masses to buy or not to buy. The belt remains very appealing in spite of the 'upscaling' that we can see. The modification is quite old and probably was worn for at least a generation or two before coming into my collection. 

This is one of the most mysterious pieces in my collection, because the final form cannot be explained by 'tradition.' Some writers attribute the addition of gemstones of any kind to their supposed healing or protective properties. This could explain the cultural addition to the original inlaid filigree buckle. The mysterious addition only adds to its authenticity.

Purchase Here.  

Measurements: 
Belt length from left hand end to screw fastener on right hand end - 32.5 in (82.5 cm)
Belt band width at buckle fastener, not including bell dangles - 2 in (5 cm)
Belt width including dangles - 3.75 in (9.5 cm)
Belt buckle length when closed - 3 in (7.5 cm)