Antique Ethnic Middle Eastern Necklace, nice contrast of antique genuine amber beads and museum quality filigree yemeni beads .

Central Amulet Pendant : 8.5cm X2.5cm ( 3.3" X 1" )

Total Length : 46cm ( 18" )

Weight 171 grams

Silver collecting has become an act of cultural preservation. There is an urgency to acquiring, cataloging and recording the history and uses of Middle Eastern silver jewelry.

Traditionally, nomadic Bedouins and village families were among the silversmith?s best customers. Women in such settings often acquired most of their jewelry through marriage. Part of the dowry, or mahr, given by the groom to the bride?s father to confirm the marriage, was used to buy or commission jewelry from the local silversmith. This would be part of what the bride would wear on her wedding day.

This jewelry remained a woman?s own property, even in the event of divorce, and she could sell it at will, so it was like a savings account, to be drawn on in bad times or for special purchases, and it provided her throughout her life with a measure of economic security and independence

Jewelry also announced a woman?s social and marital status. Some pieces, such as the hanumtriangles from Yemen, were understood to be worn only by married women, and jewelry could tell others at a glance whether or not she was the mother of a son or sons?when, for instance, the tips of pendants on necklaces worn by Siwan women of western Egypt were broken off to mark each male birth. 

The amount of new jewelry a woman acquired after marriage was considered both a measure of the value her husband placed on her?very often she received additional pieces on the birth of a son?as well as of her own ability, through selling handicrafts or other products, to add to her stock. New jewelry raised her status in the eyes of her community