Exhibitions Philadelphia. Desert Jewels: North African Jewelry and Photography. The Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Curated Object

Necklace with central pendant, Tagguemout  20th Century, Draa Valley, Morocco Silver, coral, enamel, coins, glass, copal, shell, cotton, plastic, buttons. 

Hand pendant with salamander motif, Khamsa 19th or 20th Century, MoroccoSilver, bronze 

Fibula 20th Century, Tiznit, Morocco Silver, enamel, coins, glass. 

Hand pendant with central boss, six pointed star and hand motif, Khamsa 19th or 20th Century, Morocco Silver, copper. 

Young Girl  Unknown Photographer, North Africa, ca. 1870 Original photograph on albumin paper from a collodion glass negative 

Fibula or Tabzimt Late 19th Century Aït Yenni People, Great Kabylie, Algeria Silver, coral, enamel 

Necklace Late 20th Century, Marrakech, Morocco Coral, amazonite, metal rosettes, wool 

Desert Jewels: North African Jewelry and Photography

September 4 - December 5, 2010

By JoAnn Greco

The rich array of baubles, bangles, and beads on display here may contain precious few precious stones, but their wealth (both monetarily and culturally) is undeniable. Whether enormous necklaces crafted of glass beads and shells or delicate amulets of silver and gold, these pieces carry with them the traces of Europe, Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa that came to cross in places like Morocco and Tunisia, while providing insight into the region itself.

According to curator Enid Schildkrout from New York's Museum for African Art, from whence the exhibit hails, many of the pieces could be taken apart and reassembled. Many are infused with symbolic properties, such as khamsa, the hand-shaped amulets thought to offer the wearer protection from harm. Many of the works indicate regional and group identity — for example, the bold and graphic spiked bracelets (they look like brass knuckles!) worn by Ait Yenni women in Morocco.

This visual feast is accompanied by a selection of late 19th- and early 20th-century photos which document the people and places associated with the nearly 100 necklaces. earrings, bracelets, and headpieces. Schildkrout points out that they serve to emphasize North Africa as a "cosmopolitan" center where Jews, Arabs, Berbers, and peoples from sub-Saharan Africa happily and frequently intersected. In these images, women sport magnificent jewelry, westerners explore exotic monuments, and merchants and buyers meet and exchange. Three glorious textiles — a wool and goat-hair men's cloak sporting an 'evil eye' motif, a woman's shawl, and a wedding garment embroidered with metal thread — pulled from the Philadelphia Museum of Art lend heft and texture to the room.

For more information please visit: The Philadelphia Museum of Art

Comments

[jo]

Cool..

[Desert Jewelry]

I'm generally interested and impressed with antique jewelry.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrSTQDVc0tc The above collection is unique and marvelous. The one with coral is beautiful. The necklace is brilliant too. The gold coined jewel is sleek and cool.

[Back2 Afrika]

Thank you. I like your content. Very nice