A Blend of Silver Amulets and Beads from the Middle East

Yemen Amulets, ornate Iranian silver beads and composite turquoise beads celebrate the trade routes across Iran into Yemen.  I must add that I collected the beads and amulets while I lived in the Middle East and now offer this blend of cultures.

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This necklace is modeled on Afghan bazaar style combinations of gemstones and silver from all over Western and Central Asia.  All the pieces are old, including the turquoise disk beads.  The beautifully handmade faceted Afghan silver beads and Yemeni coin silver amulets are from the early 1900s.  The amulets were collected in Yemen by a member of my family in the 1970s.  The jet beads are European and have been in my loose bead trays for a long time.  

The green blue natural composite turquoise and the black and silver bead colors strike the eye when worn on a colorful garment.  I highly recommend this necklace to women who wear red.

The ornate wheat grain shaped silver beads are from Iran, collected by a member of my family in 1973.  

The blue beads strung on the top of the larger amulet are of the Nueva Cadiz type, but I cannot be sure of their age.  They are old, but I cannot say how old.  They were bought on a string with an Egyptian faience statuette but I doubt that they are old enough to belong with an ancient Egyptian artifact.  They are probably pre-1950, but cannot be dated much earlier.  We can safely say that they are an old reproduction of the more ancient beads.  

The 25-year-old fastener is of pewter.  These pieces are from my own collection, including the fastener.  

Measurements: 65 cm (26 in) long; central amulet is 6.6 cm (2.6 in) long x 18 mm ().72 in) dam; turquoise beads are 9 mm (0.35 in) dam. Weight: 102 grams (3.6 ozs.)

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Antique Silver Rings made by Yemen Silversmiths

Rings and Things with silver buds on them, a sampling.

A variety of ring styles from my antique Yemen bridal dowry jewelry collection.  CONTACT ME through the private message form above left.

Antique Yemen Silver and Coral Ring from Early Nineteen Hundreds 

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The Yemen silversmith made this ring with the typical motifs around the silver band and used a beautiful old Mediterranean red coral bead as the setting in a handcrafted bezel.  

It is made with the primitive hand made iron tools of the Jewish community of silversmiths of the time. Such jewelry is now rare because the Jews left Yemen in the 1940s, moving to other parts of the Middle East, mostly to Israel.  

Size: 8 per U.S. standard (18 mm inside diameter of band)

Diameter of Bezel and Coral Setting - 12.5 mm

SOLD: Old Yemen Silver Ring Omani Style with Silver Granules and Beaded

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I acquired this ring from a collector in Oman, though the ring is said to be from Yemen, probably from the Southeastern Province touching Oman.

It is decorated like other Omani jewelry. The band exterior is embellished with silver granules and beaded wire. The silver band is smooth on the inside. The beaded wire at the edges finish the decoration nicely. The ring is in very good condition and easy to wear.

It is probably made from Maria Theresa thaler coins melted down and blended with melted silver jewelry, a common practice in Yemen jewelry making. It might have been made as late as the 1940s in Yemen or if it is from Oman, it might have been made only a few decades ago.

Measurements - 25 mm = 1 inch

Outside diameter - 22 mm
Inside diameter - 18 mm (about size 8 in U.S. ring size)
Width of band - 18 mm

Yemen Silver Bedouin Ornamental Ring with Red Glass Flat Cut Gem  SOLD.

This is a beautiful Yemen silver ring worn by more than one generation of women I am assuming from its soft glowing patina. It was probably made by a rural jewelry maker, not by one of the master silversmiths in Sana'a. Of course it is possible that the ring was made by a young novice, just learning the skill of making Yemen silver jewelry.  

The silver ring is set with a round piece of smooth flat cut red glass. two small ornamental hollow silver beads decorate the bezel of the setting. The piece is probably at least fifty years old. The ring band has been either broken and repaired at center back or it was connected with a blob of solder when it was made. The inside of the band of the ring is smooth and comfortable on the finger.  

There is no charge for shipping.  

Measurements - 

Inside diameter of band - 18.5 mm (0.73 inch) Size 8 - 8.5 American size

Bezel diameter - 20 mm (0.8 in)

Antique Yemen Silver Ring Made by Early Nineteen Hundreds Silversmith 

This ring was made by a Jewish silversmith in the cultural enclaves in Yemen where most of the silver jewelry was created. It is made of silver from the Marie Therese thalers, the international medium of exchange until the late 1800s. It is a noble addition to your collection. 

This beautiful design was made by the silversmith's talented hands and the five rudimentary tools that were also handmade of iron.  

Measurements

Inside diameter - 2 cm (0.75 in)

Height at ring face - 10 mm (0.4 in)

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Antique Kazakh Afghanistan Turkoman Tribal Silver Bead Pendant

A Rare Kazakh Turkoman Bead shown in different lighting:

In a cool light with sunlight blocked, the silvery surface is almost too gray and does not reveal the natural aged patina on the silver.  In the photo below, the sun is obviously streaming in and hitting the background of the photo.  Oddly enough, the surface of the bead appears as its natural self with a fairly dark patina in the recessed places while the raised granules of silver shine softly from being rubbed against clothing of the wearer of this old bead, collected in Afghanistan years ago.  

Antique Kazakh Afghanistan Turkoman Tribal Silver Bead Pendant

A side view to show the typical two sided hollow bead style of the Turkoman or Turkmen tribal silversmiths.

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A fuller description of the bead:

Rare find in Afghanistan in my collection for years. This is the prized Kazakh two sided bead that can be used as a pendant. 

Authentic Turkoman tribal silver bead collected by a family member in Afghanistan in 1974. This was old at that time. Note that a slot has formed on the rim of the bead hole on each side caused by the rubbing of the string from which it hung. 

The bezel is set with a green and a blue glass bead. The two faces of the bead are otherwise identical. The granulated silver pyramidal shapes are typical of this tribal style. The base sheet of silver is oxidized and the layer of granulation is applied over it. 

This is a fantastic collector piece of Turkoman silversmithing. You can keep it as a collectible, put it on a cord or chain and wear it alone or you can string it with other beads and make yourself or someone else a fine necklace. 

Measurements - 3 cm x 3.5 cm x 13 mm (1.2 in x 1.4 in x 0.5 in)

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The Oops! of Expatriate Living

Polishing Pans

       

A bowl in my own collection collected in Afghanistan.  If interested, please contact me.

A story about polishing pans:

Some confusion can occur when the same words have different meanings when two speakers live in two different cultures.  This happened to a friend of mine when we lived in Afghanistan.  The Afghans speak a language related to English and they speak English quite clearly, with just a slight charming accent.  Nevertheless, certain practical household terms such as the word POLISH can mean something entirely different than how my British lady friend meant it when she used the word when speaking to her Afghan cook.

To buffer the beautiful copper cooking and serving utensils that we American and British expatriates admired, collected and used, the Afghan metalsmiths clad the copper with a coat of tin.  This not only protected the people who ate food cooked and served in the utensils, it also lengthened the usefulness of the copper vessels.

In the photographs above and in the first photo below, you can see examples of used copper in the condition in which we householders in Afghanistan bought and used it.  It is very attractive and quite safe to cook and serve in.  In an Afghan household, after years of service, the utensils would be taken to the tinsmith to be re-clad with a shiny layer of what the Afghans counted as -- you guessed it -- POLISH.  We expatriates usually collected these beautiful antique dishes just as the old tin coating was wearing thin so that with a mechanized steel brush, the copper peeking through the tin outer layer could be brought up to a glowing coppery red and the tin would be  even more subdued by the brush removing some of it and dulling such tin as remained on the dish or pot.

While to the Afghan cook, the word POLISH meant applying a coat of shiny tin metal, to the British lady of the house, it meant rubbing it briskly with a steel brushing machine to remove the tin so that the coppery glow would enhance the beauty of the antique vessel.

The nearest machine of this type was over the Khyber pass from Kabul, the Afghanistan capital where many of us American and European expatriates lived.  My English lady friend asked her cook to take her collection of antique vessels to Peshawar in Pakistan by bus through the Khyber pass and have the vessels POLISHED!

You have anticipated what happened.  Nevertheless, I will provide illustrations of the three stages  of these collectible dishes, pots, cups and other vessels from Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan.  I have borrowed examples from international sellers:

From the shop of oldarticlesbg at https://www.etsy.com/listing/199949773/  Illustrating the stage at which the collectors buy the utensils.

This is a magnificent covered serving dish that has been burnished with a steel brush to remove almost all the tin from the outer layer, leaving a tin lining for the serving dish itself.  I have served dinners from one almost just like this that I collected in Turkey.  Fortunately, Ankara had such brushing machines in the old part of the city.   

Revives shop at  https://www.etsy.com/listing/193928442/

Below you see examples of original copper pieces in the background and in the foreground you see the copper water jug and mugs that have been POLISHED with a layer of silvery tin.   

BeautyofTurkey  shop at https://www.etsy.com/listing/217483925/

Just musing about the interesting stories of my life abroad. 

Thanks for reading my blog.  You are welcome to comment! 

Creating a Nomad Style Necklace from Old Silver and Vintage Beads

Note the vintage bakelite toggle clasp on this brilliantly colored Middle Eastern Nomad style necklace.  I call it a fascinating fastener.

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Old Yemen Silver Wheel Bead with Coral, Amber, Bone Beaded Necklace

$78.00 U. S.  CONTACT ME for invoice or more information through the message form above left.

Here is a closeup view of the Yemen wheel bead: 

In making this necklace I raided a pile of old butterscotch and egg yolk amber resin beads that I had collected over time.  But this necklace demanded more beads and more of a variety due to the importance of the focal bead. It is an old Yemen silver alloy bead made in the standard granulation style. Tiny beads of silver are dropped onto a wire or solid background metal in rows or in patterns. The small beads made in this way are called Bedihi or berry beads, while these larger diameter granulated beads like this one are called wheel beads. They resemble a lugged tire.  

This one is large enough that it needed large decorative beads to surround it. The Yemen silversmiths, along with the desert nomads, preferred two kinds of beads to string with their silver creations: coral and amber. When the old natural frankincense amber became too expensive for them to string with their beautiful silver, they turned to the modern imitations of amber coming from Europe and North Africa. For a long while the Mediterranean natural coral remained available to them.  

Unfortunately, the Mediterranean coral beads are very scarce and expensive at present. For this piece, I decided to use the dyed natural coral from the Pacific which is naturally much paler and grows thicker branches than the old Mediterranean type. I chose for the foil against which the silver, amber resin and coral would play a handful of my tray of dyed bone beads, shaped by hand and quite at home in a nomadic style of necklace such as this one.  

The necklace contains three antique Yemen silver beads, four of the Pacific coral beads and 27 bone beads. The remainder of the beads, including the fastener are made of vintage amber resin beads.  

Necklace length - 26 inches (66 cm)
Wheel bead dimensions - 25 mm diam. x 16 mm wide (1 in x 0.63 in )

$78.00 U. S.  CONTACT ME for invoice or more information through the message form above left.

Restoring a Yemen Dowry Necklace

Restoring an antique relic of a vanished culture is intimidating.  Fortunately, I had access to appropriate jewelry elements that my family had collected through the years.  Here is a close up view of the final restoration of a Yemen dowry necklace.

$760.00 U.S.   CONTACT ME for invoice or for more information by using the private message form above left.

All the ornate bead caps, the signed starburst pattern large hollow silver beads and the Bedihi beads as well as the necklace terminals had been preserved, but the faturan or synthetic amber beads that had rested between the caps and the small separator beads, typically of coral, were no longer with the silver  components.  

Here is a more complete view of the now finished bridal dowry necklace from Yemen in the period around 1900 or a bit later.   I searched through my collection of faturan amber beads to find the ones that fit the ornate bead caps.  I find the European bakelite beads of that era very appealing, as did the jewelers of Yemen in the period of 1920 to 1940.  These particular synthetic amber beads were made in the late 1900s, but they were appropriate in color and size and could be used to good effect in restoring this fine piece of Yemen jewelry.  

The small translucent agate beads are from Yemen.  The people of Yemen had prized agate beads from ancient times; the small cloudy gems harmonize culturally with the other beads and serve as  buffers between the ornate silver pieces.  By happenstance, I had an appropriate silver chain on which to hang my restored necklace. 

The old starburst beads show that the necklace on which they originally hung was worn a long time.  The signatures of the maker or makers are quite worn, but still recognizable as the archaic Arabic alphabet that was still being used in Yemen at that time.  

In the close up view above, you see the faint stamped cartouches of the silversmith who made that particular bead.  Also note the cloudy translucent Yemen agate beads and the very special and now rare Bedihi beads.  While you are viewing this close up, don't overlook the exquisite terminals on this necklace.  They are gems in themselves.  

$760.00 U.S.   CONTACT ME for invoice or for more information by using the private message form above left.

Yemen Silver Jewelry with New Beads

When lovely old pieces of jewelry are separated from their original adornment, they can still be made the focus of a new creation in the old tradition or in a modern translation, as it were.  In this design, I kept the old tradition of making a kirdan or dowry necklace in the same form and with materials that would have been available at the time the original pieces were made.

The focus of the this design is a fantastically intricate plaque and hirz or mezuzah combination made by a Jewish silversmith in Yemen in the early 1900s.

Antique Yemen Silver mezuzah with four strands of modern coral

$650.00 U.S. CONTACT ME for invoice or for more information using the private message form above left. 

The amulet - or mezuzah or hirz - became an orphan piece of fine ethnic silver workmanship. The same had happened to the plaque on which the small amulet now hangs. So my first task in assembling this piece was to attach the amulet onto the plaque which had lost its central loops on which its amulet had hung. So I used heavy gauge sterling silver filled wire to repair the loss of the loops.  Now the mezuzah hangs straight and secure on the bottom of the plaque.  The decorations on each piece match very well, with their heavily granulated silver surface.  

Full view of antique Yemen silver mezuzah necklace 

$650.00 U.S. CONTACT ME for invoice or for more information using the private message form above left.

The next task was to find compatible beads of silver with a patina of age to match the antique silver of the ethnic Yemeni Jewish silver. I found some old silver separator bead from Yemen in my ethnic bead collection and that problem was settled. Next, I found my stash of some old silver over brass accent beads from India. 

But then I had to find enough of the customary size of coral that the Yemenites had strung on their kirdan necklaces. The kirdan was part of the bridal dowry and the bride would wear it on her wedding day and at family celebrations. I started pawing through my bead trays again. Voila! I found dyed red Pacific coral beads in exactly the same size and shape that had been used in the traditional Yemeni bridal kirdan necklaces with their multiple strands of Mediterranean coral. 

Next I wanted some neutral colors to cool down the intensity of the very red coral so that it did not overpower the glow of the old silver. For that I chose two different sizes of natural beads in black and white: black onyx and white bone beads. I also added two Indian agate eye beads in natural bands of black and white. 

So as not to overweigh the wearer of the necklace, but to make it large and imposing as the kirdans were made, I reduced the side strands of the necklace to just two. I connected the four strand section to the side sections with hand made sterling silver filled figure 8 loops. The chain is a handmade chain from Yemen, including the old handmade figure 8 loop fastener. 

This is a fantastic kirdan style necklace with genuine antique ethnic silver included. You can make a spectacular entrance wearing this with dress-up or jeans. 

Measurements: Necklace length: 24 inches (61 cm)
Plaque and amulet: 2 in x 3 in (5 cm x 8 cm)

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$650.00 U.S. CONTACT ME for invoice or for more information using the private message form above left.