Jewelry

Gorgeous design, as far as I'm concerned. The "teeth" of my mother's bracelet. I suspect this is from Afghanistan.

Three of these bracelets belonged to my mother. I don't remember where she got them, but I believe they are middle eastern, rather than north African. We both had a slight obsession with ethnic jewelry and each have/had small collections, so I'm now a little hazy on hers. The one in front has three very large lapis lazuli stones. The stones and design lead me to believe this is from Afghanistan. See other shots for more detail.

These were made by Mauritanian silversmiths at their market in central Dakar, Senegal, 1986. I had done a lot of research about these silversmiths many years ago and I have forgotten a lot of their complex history, except that they were perhaps originally slaves owned by the Tuareg and supplied them with jewelry, amulets and other metal decorations. Some Tuareg, and other Sahelian nomads, migrated from Mali to Senegal and Mauritania during the deadly drought of the 1970s. Some were allowed by the government of Senegal to come to Dakar to sell their wares, but my understanding is that they were not allowed permanent residency. About three years after I bought these bracelets, I happened to read a tiny news article in the San Francisco paper that they had all been killed by Senegalese "rebels," who had long resented their prosperous silver market in Dakar. I was completely shocked, as I had dealt personally with several of them in their dark, smoky workrooms behind the main market area. All of these years later, I still can't believe the ones I met were killed. Extreme poverty led to this tragic situation, both that of Mauritanians and Senegalese. However, compared to Mauritania, Senegal is prosperous, stable and practices a liberal form of Islam. Slaves of the Tuareg: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikelan Sahel droughts: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahel_drought#Late_20th_century_droughts Update on silversmiths: tinyurl.com/yxb6hc74 Street View screen grab - silversmiths returned to the same place at 7373 Avenue Place 116. Enter through the pink passage.

From my mother's collection. I believe it was made in the middle east in the 1960s. The cuff on the bottom is from Senegal. See other uploads for more info.

Made in a co-op in Kenya.

The cuff on the lower left is from Afghanistan, made by a women's co-op to benefit a girls' school. AA325 My choice.

See the previous upload. for the original.

The large designs across the front are probably Arabic - perhaps Farsi. (Can anyone read it?) It was my mother's and I don't remember exactly where it is from other than the middle east. It is often difficult to be specific, because Muslim regions have borrowed decorative motifs and materials from each other for centuries. The spread of Islam moved generally from east to west and so did its motifs. The above example is of higher quality than others I have. This one has the looping script, but the information just says, "middle eastern." I found several others with the same script. i.pinimg.com/736x/42/23/32/422332353583dc5a227fc1455f614c78.jpg

This one is so goofy that it makes me smile. I don't wear most of my jewelry anymore.