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Woman's Headband

1287 AH/AD 1870-1871

The Walters Art Museum

The Walters Art Museum
Baltimore, United States

The headband consists of a flexible interlaced silver band with square endpieces, each with rosette-shaped knob that fastens the band inside the terminals. The band is decorated with a large central rosette in the center, which is combined with a smaller rosette and a dangle below. Two smaller disk with rosettes on each side of the large central rosette are directly attached to the band. In addition, between end-pieces, discs, and the central rosette are four combinations of rhombic elements flanked by slim bars with a five-disc motif, each of which is attached to a movable retainer. The rhombic elements are decorated with smaller rhombs in the center enclosed by rings and disks. The decoration of the attachments is made in filigree technique; the large central rosette is worked in repoussé. Hanging down from the band are forty-five multi-element dangles, which combine rings, disks, and small cuboids.

At the back of one endpiece is a stamp with the Arabic date: nusfi (128)7 (the term nusfi means "half"). In this year al-Hadi Galib ruled in Sana"a', but also Saykh Muhsin b. "Ali Mu'id. It was one year before the second Ottoman occupation of Yemen began. On the back of the other end-piece is an engraved Hebrew inscription that names the silversmith: Shm(uel) Sharayan, mahasit. The term mahasit means "half."

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  • Title: Woman's Headband
  • Creator: Shm Sharayan (Yemeni, active ca. 1870)
  • Date Created: 1287 AH/AD 1870-1871
  • External Link: For more information about this and thousands of other works of art in the Walters Art Museum collection, please visit art.thewalters.org
  • Roles: Silversmith: Shm Sharayan (Yemeni, active ca. 1870)
  • Reign: Al-Hadi Galib (1287 AH/AD 1870-1871) (?)
  • Provenance: Mr. Derek Content and Mr. Benjamin Zucker [Zucker Family Trust] London and New York, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 2010, by gift.
  • Object Type: headbands
  • Medium: silver with gilding
  • Inscriptions: [Stamp] In Arabic: nusfi (128)7 AH; [Engraved] In Hebrew: Sm(uel) Sarayan, mahasit
  • Geography: Place of Origin: Sana'
  • Exhibitions: Diadem and Dagger: Jewish Artisans of Yemen. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2012-2013.
  • Dimensions: L: 19 1/2 x W of end-pieces: 1 1/2 in. (49.5 x 3.8 cm)
  • Credit Line: Joint gift to the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, and the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, by Mr. Derek Content and Mr. Benjamin Zucker in honor of Mrs. Amanda Content and Mrs. Barbara Zucker, 2010
  • Classification: Gold, Silver & Jewelry
  • Accession Number: 57.231
The Walters Art Museum

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