User:Munfarid1/Jewellery of North Africa

Jewellery of North Africa is... (description)

Most of the extant jewelry from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia dates from the 19th century, although a few pieces, such as a  pair of pendent gold earrings set with rubies and emeralds (New York, Met., 1981.5.6,17), are ascribed to the 17th century. Although silver was common in rural areas, gold jewelry was worn in the cities and by tribal people of the Sahara, who were  in close contact with sub-Saharan Africa. The need to protect oneself against the evil eye is a prominent feature of North  African jewelry. The spread hand, known as the khamsa (“five”) or Hand of Fatima, after the Prophet’s daughter, is the most common talisman in the region. Magical powers are also  attributed to the cross and other geometric forms such as the triangle and the hexagram or Seal of Solomon. The decorative  repertory includes fish, snakes, scorpions, doves and salamanders, each with certain apotropaic powers.

Morocco is known for the great variety of khamsas, which range from the simple ones used in rural areas, cast or cut of silver sheets with engraved floral decoration, to  the magnificent urban examples, set with diamonds and emeralds. Fibulae, the pins inherited from the Roman tradition and used  by Berber women to fasten their upper garments, were embellished with triangular silver plaques, engraved and set with coral   or glass, and often linked by a chain decorated with circular or oval elements. The most common element of gold jewelry was  the tizara worn by rich urban women, a necklace of medallions in openwork arabesques set with precious stones and pearls. Other necklaces  are studded with solid elements on one side and decorated in champlevé enamel on the other. Pendent earrings common in the  cities are done in openwork with settings and are suspended around the ears. Both necklaces and earrings copied Ottoman jewelry  and Baroque jewelry from southern Spain. Bracelets from Fez and Tangier known as the “Sun and Moon” are comprised of diagonal  stripes alternating silver with gold. Other bracelets were cast and decorated in floral or geometric patterns, and spike bracelets  were designed to protect the wearer during raids. Enameled jewelry from Tiznit is done mainly in yellow and green; niello  is a speciality of Taguemont, a small town in the Anti Atlas; and amber, valued for its medicinal power, is extensively used   in southern Morocco and Mauritania.

Algerian jewelry, mainly fibulae and diadems, necklaces and bracelets, is made of silver and decorated with cloisonné enamel  in green, blue and yellow and in fine filigree. Jewelry is often set with coral to take advantage of its remedial and magical  powers (see Algeria, color pl. 1:I, fig. 4). Traditional Tunisian jewelry is also silver, sometimes gilded. The major ornaments are amulet cases,  either triangular, cylindrical or rectangular, and hoop and suspended earrings. Crescent-shaped fibulae are engraved with  doves (the symbol of blessing and good tidings), fish (the symbol of fertility and life), flowers and hexagrams, the same   motifs found on bracelets. Other jewelry is done in filigree, and cloisonné in red and blue on a ground of gilded silver is  common. The major centers of production are Tunis, Djerba and Sfax. The Tuareg tribes of the Sahara also made silver jewelry,  especially cast bracelets and crosses, in which the arms of the cross and its embossed center replace the traditional hand   as the symbol of the number five. Tuareg silver jewelry was often decorated with balls and pyramidal protuberances or engraved  and nielloed. Bracelets were also made of horn or wood. In the Sahara coral, as well as cowrie shell, is used for pendants  and hair ornaments.

Literature

 * P. Eudel: L’Orfèvrerie algérienne et tunisienne (Algiers, 1902)
 * J. Besancenot: Bijoux arabes et berbères du Maroc (Casablanca, 1953; R 2001)
 * G. Marçais: Les Bijoux musulmans de l’Afrique du nord (Algiers, 1958)
 * M.-R. Rabaté, A. Goldenberg and J.-L. Thau: Bijoux du Maroc, du Haut Atlas à la Méditerranée: Depuis le temps des juifs jusquà la fin du XXe siècle (Aix-en Provence, 1999)
 * M.-F. Vivier: “Head Ornament (Taounza),” Africa: Arts and Cultures, ed. J. Mack (New York, 2000)
 * F. Ramirez and C. Rolot: Bijoux du Maroc: La beauté des diables (Paris, 2002)
 * Juifs du Maroc: Fastes et facettes (exh. cat. by P. Dahan and others; Paris, Mus. A. Juif Maroc., 2002)
 * R. Alaoui: Costumes et parures du Maroc (Paris, 2003)
 * K. Loughran: “Jewelry, Fashion and Identity: The Tuareg Example,” Afr. A., xxxvi/1 (2003), pp. 52–65, 93
 * Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World (exh. cat., Los Angeles, UCLA, Fowler Mus. Cult. Hist., 2006)