Earring
1850-1880 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Turkoman jewellery is one of the most distinctive and easily recognisable styles of traditional jewellery. It was worn by the nomadic tribes of Central Asia, in the present region of Turkmenistan and parts of northern Iran and Afghanistan. Although individual pieces rarely date from any earlier than the 19th century, many of the designs and symbols used are much older, often pre-Islamic in origin.
These earrings show many of the main characteristics of Turkoman jewellery, with their clean outline of pierced sheet silver, decorated only with applied wire and flat-cut cornelians, and numerous chain pendants ending in lozenges of sheet silver stamped in a matrix.
They were acquired in Turkestan in 1884-5, during an Anglo-Russian conference to define the north-west frontier of Afghanistan, and were given to the Museum in 1900.
These earrings show many of the main characteristics of Turkoman jewellery, with their clean outline of pierced sheet silver, decorated only with applied wire and flat-cut cornelians, and numerous chain pendants ending in lozenges of sheet silver stamped in a matrix.
They were acquired in Turkestan in 1884-5, during an Anglo-Russian conference to define the north-west frontier of Afghanistan, and were given to the Museum in 1900.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Sheet silver with applied wire and set with cornelians, with red, white and black glass beads |
| Brief description | Pair of long silver pendent earrings (tenedshir) set with cornelians, Turkestan, 1850-1880. |
| Physical description | Pair of long pendent earrings. Each consists of a flat sheet of silver, cut out like a stylised heart, with the top elongated to form a long curved wire. The front is decorated with a vertical strip of beaded wire, with a flat oval cornelian set in the centre. The edge of the heart is emphasised with a strip of twisted wire. There are seven pendants hanging from the lower edge, each consisting of a length of square-section loop-in-loop chain ending in a vertical lozenge of sheet silver stamped with a central line. The pendants are linked by a horizontal string of black, white and red glass beads just above the centre. There are two similar pendants hanging from the top part of the earring. |
| Object history | Letter in register: 'My husband bought the little cap [739-1900], breast ornament [736-1900] & head dress [735-1900], with large ear-rings [737&A-1900, 738&A-1900] from Turkestan, when with Sir Peter Lumsden in 1884 & 5. Also heavy bracelets [733&A-1900]. The shawl fastener [732-1900] & brooch [731-1900], are of Kabyle workmanship & I brought them from Algiers. Kabyle jewelry will be known by having coral & turquoise settings - Turkestan, by cornelian in silver' |
| Summary | Turkoman jewellery is one of the most distinctive and easily recognisable styles of traditional jewellery. It was worn by the nomadic tribes of Central Asia, in the present region of Turkmenistan and parts of northern Iran and Afghanistan. Although individual pieces rarely date from any earlier than the 19th century, many of the designs and symbols used are much older, often pre-Islamic in origin. These earrings show many of the main characteristics of Turkoman jewellery, with their clean outline of pierced sheet silver, decorated only with applied wire and flat-cut cornelians, and numerous chain pendants ending in lozenges of sheet silver stamped in a matrix. They were acquired in Turkestan in 1884-5, during an Anglo-Russian conference to define the north-west frontier of Afghanistan, and were given to the Museum in 1900. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 737&A-1900 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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