Temporary Exhibit(Nov 2015 - July 2017)Ya Hafeth Ya Ameen Protective Silver Jewelry

Bridal Jewelry: A Woman from Yemen

Jewelry was inherited by a woman as part of her bridal payment at the time of marriage, and remained her personal property. It identified a women as married or single, and as resident of a particular town or region. Jewelry acted as an investment in times of prosperity, and provided insurance in times of hardship.

Miqlab - Bridal Backpiece, Hebron Villages
1900

The shapes and forms of the jewelry that a bride received would vary; from gems, to coins, drawings, pendants, rings, as well as spoken incantations used to draw away evil or bad luck. The picture displayed here is of the back of a Palestinian bride's headdress, called Miqlab. When the bride is about to leave her father's home, all her aunts sew their treasures -- jewelry and coins -- to a piece of cloth and sew it to the back of her dress as she's leaving the house. In this way, she takes with her both treasure and memories of her family. All talismans have one thing in common: a human need to feel safe in an uncertain world.

Protecting Children: Children with Amulets on their Hats

Boys were regarded as particularly precious, and so more vulnerable to attacks of the ‘evil eye’ as well as the envy of neighbors. In rural communities across the Middle East baby boys were sometimes dressed like girls, to avoid and confuse Jinn that might come looking for them.

Obtaining the jewelry

Where would an individual go to buy an amulet, charm or body adornment infused with the correct properties? For everyday needs, most people would go to the local silversmith. For special protection or a personalized good luck charm individuals would need to visit the village sheikh or a local wise person, to order a specially forged inscription on a customized amulet.

Lebanese Festive Dress
1900 & 1935
Women wore protective symbols not only on their jewelry, but also on their dresses. This costume from Lebanon includes a delicate white scarf with glittery pieces of amuletic silver hammered into it.

Different Shapes of Amulet Containers, Mahfaza & Kutub
1900

Certain jewelry was believed to bestow beneficial physical effects, in addition to being decorative. Cylinders often contained Quranic verses on tiny paper scrolls, while oval or rectangular pendants (maskeh) were engraved with the name of God.

Silver Choker from Yemen: Yemen's Techniques

Yemen was two separate countries until 1990, with the jewelry designs reflecting this separation. Turkish influence can be seen in northern silver work, especially in the filigree that became popular during the second Turkish occupation of Sana’a, from 1873 to 1911. At one time jewelry from Yemen was sold across the Arab World, as far as Morocco. Indian jewelers worked in Aden in south Yemen, all the way to the Eastern border with Oman.

By the 1970s the craft was in decline due to changing tastes, economics and the migration of Yemeni Jewish silversmiths to many parts the world.

Oman's Unique and Changing Styles

The addition of small elements of gilded decoration on Omani silver jewelry gained popularity from the 1960s onwards during a time when earnings increased and vast quantities of gold were readily available from Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Over time however, Omani women’s fondness for gilded embellishments developed into a demand for pieces made entirely of gold, creating a decline in demand for the silversmith’s craft.

On special occasions, Omani women traditionally adorn themselves from head to toe; they wear elaborate headdresses, forehead pendants, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, finger rings, anklets and toe rings, Individual pieces are imbued with religious significance as well as beauty and function. A woman’s jewelry indicates her financial and marital status, and often represents her tribal or regional identity.

The color and material of certain types of jewelry is held to attribute special powers to the piece.

Omani Necklace


Verses from the Qur’an feature prominently in all styles of Omani jewelry, either as engraved inscriptions or as a rolled-up page sealed inside a decorated Qur’an case.

The Hand of Fatima

The Hand of Fatima, also sometimes known as the Hand of Miriam, is a form of protection that goes back thousands of years. Often cast in silver, the hand is also embroidered into material, and placed on women's dresses. This hand has three fingers, on the chest piece of a dress from Zabid, Yemen.

Silver Decorative Techniques

Whether forged for city or village or Bedouin women, the same techniques in jewelry production are used. These techniques include:

Repousse “darab shakosh”
Repousse is a decorative technique in which the design is hammered outwards from the back of a thin piece of silver sheet.

Repousse tools used by silversmiths are handmade of hardened steel.

Sand Casting “sakib”
This method reproduces a three dimensional object. Casting involves pouring molten metal into a mold to obtain the desired shape.
These beautiful “Kaffat” necklaces are made by sand casting techniques.

Chasing
Tracing a design on the surface with a punch.

Filigree “mushabak”
This involves twisting and soldering silver wires to produce the desired pattern.

Granulation “habbiyat”

The granulation technique was brought to Jordan by a group of “Hejazi” silversmiths. It means working with granules that are prepared in a pattern, then soldering them on a bar that fashions the pieces according to the desired style.

The technique is often combined with filigree work; balls are made on the surface of a block by first placing the metal then playing a torch flame on it until the snippets melt, forming a ball.



Hammering “tariq”
In this technique, silver is hammered and cut to form the desired shape.

Inlay or Niello “mhabar”
This involves the inlaying of lead, copper and silver into grooves to ornament silver. This technique is attributed to the Circassian, Turkish, Syrian and Armenian silversmiths who settled in Jordan in the late nineteenth century.

The Arabic word “Mhabar” derives from the word “ink” and refers to the black color of the enamel. It was used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans

Engraving
This is a way of decorating metal by cutting lines and patterns into the surface. Prime engraving appears with Quranic inscriptions and sacred formula on pendants and amulets.