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Old 23rd June 2012, 06:21 AM   #34
Ibrahiim al Balooshi
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Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
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Salaams Khanjar 1 and Ariel.
Well its not a replica. But its also not what you say it is at #1; A Bawsani Thouma. Its probably got a bit of Bawsani on it..I mean its like an airy room. Its got "some" air in it.

This project Thuma is floated in as a Bawsani under the banner A Bawsani Thouma. Personally I think there is more than one Jewish craftsmans silver platework here but its not all originally from one workshop( there may be as many as 6 Jewish silver plates/items involved and I can see the workshop program that has assembled it. Im not saying that is bad... I'm saying that assuming it to be a Bawsani Thuma is a big stretch. On that note you may wish to re work your #1 description to realign your assumptions; I see nothing wrong with that.

I spend a lot of time redoing past theories when I realise something is not quite right. Bawsani work on a Yemeni Thouma may be a reasonable place to start re aligning the thread no? That way it opens the door to a rich potential development based on Jewish-Yemeni craftsmanship.

It is unlikely, however, the scabbard and silver belt parts may be Bawsani and/or a closely related workshop but from different periods ~ You could further argue that there is as much as about 50 years difference in the age on the throat rectangle compared to the other pieces and I would go along with that. That alone makes it worth studying.

As I said before it would be worth looking to see if there are stamps on the other plates. That at least leaves the door open for further discussion regarding what you may have to hand.

I suspect a slight change in the name be investigated as Bawsani and if Dom can please look at that on the stamp. The web reference for this family stamp is http://www.arabiafelixjewels.com/tag...ewish-filigree and they worked at the House of Baws or Beit Baws. The beads are also called Bawsani. See also Garner, R. 2003 The maker's mark in Yemeni jewelry. Ornament 26 (4): 38-41. under Notes at the end of this post.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Notes to Library; The following is by Anisa Naon and is a bit of background on Yemeni work so that already we begin to roll out this thread to where I believe it ought to be going... along a rich road of discovery on the subject of Yemeni and Jewish-Yemeni silver craftsmanship ~ This document is as is uncorrected for prose and grammar (but the last few lines are outlined in bold by me.) There is, however, great beauty in her use of words viz;

Quote" The Ethnic Use of Silver Jewellery in Yemen
The Ethnic Use of Silver Jewellery in Yemen
By Anisa Naon.

The use of Jewellery has always been very extended in the Yemeni society, and it's an interesting fact, that Jews and Muslims wore different pieces of jewellery. There was a big difference in the use of traditional jewels, from one area of the country to other areas, what was worn and when was clearly defined in each place.
The ambar beads were mostly used by Sanaani Muslim women, but in rural areas was also worn by Jewish girls.
Rural areas presented less differences than big cities like Sana'a. The city life for Jews was more interior and had less contact with the Muslim population.
Most of the jewelers were Jewish themselves and they used to work lots of hours in minimum details to generate that beauties made of fine filigree.
The fact that the costume for Jewish and for Muslim women was different, shows another reason for the different jewels worn. Muslim women used to wear headscarves, and Jewish women wore a complement called gargush, that looks like a hood. The jewellery needed by Muslim women was mostly to keep the scarves together.The Jewish jewels were pieces to add to the hood, like filigree gold, silver brooches,coins like the Maria Theresia Thaler, and several dangling beads. Some of the pendants on the gargush had the shape of daylife things like the grains of wheat or barley, used to make everyday bread. The shapes representing the fertility of the nature give a symbolic meaning to the costume and jewellery.
Other interesting aspect in the relations between Muslim and Jewish in Yemen was the fact that for some specific occasions, it was important to wear jewels made by "the other" meaning who is not us, our community or made by a foreigner. Those jewels were supposed to possess a special blessing (baraka). The dugags of spheric beads where normally used by Muslim women daily, but Jewish women used to wear them specially on the wedding day. Jewish children also use to wear spheric dugags for extra protection. The special care for women and children comes from the exposure to many pregnancies without medical care and the natural vulnerability of the children.
Jewish silversmiths used to have Muslim and Jewish customers, they also used to work for the royal Muslims, working specially with gold instead of the usual silver. These jewelers also worked doing decoration for the daggers worn by Muslims but not by the Jewish men. This decoration includes some parts of the dagger like amulets and other accessories used with the belt and the djambia
Itīs an interesting point that some of the jewelers were rabbis, they used to study the sacred texts and also dedicate their life to silversmithing. What i find very interesting is that, as they were students of the Kabalah and the Bible, they knew the symbolic meaning if the designs, their amuletic connotations and their connection to the Kabalistic texts. The fine techniques used in the creation of Yemeni jewellery was passed generation after generation as family secrets. During the last Imam rule of Yemen, some Jewish silvermiths were called to teach their knowledge to Muslim jewelers, as most of the Jewish community was leaving the country to go to The Holy Land. Nowadays there are some newly Jewish style jewels, but the original antique ones show the finest techniques, like the Bedihi granulation and the finest examples of Bawsani filigree". Unquote

Further reading:
Colyer Ross, H. 1978 Bedouin Jewelry in Saudi Arabia. London, Stacey International:

Garner, R. 2003 The maker's mark in Yemeni jewelry. Ornament 26 (4): 38-41.

Jenkins, M. and M. Keene 1982 Islamic Jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Muchawsky-Schnapper, E. 2000 The Yemenites: Two Thousand Years of Jewish Culture. Jerusalem,The Israel Museum:

Last edited by Ibrahiim al Balooshi; 23rd June 2012 at 09:20 AM.
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