Pieces of jewellery like this, with S-shaped elements strung closely together to make a choker, are part of the traditional costume in many places, from Algeria to Armenia. This particular one is most likely to be Armenian, as it was described when it was acquired. In North Africa these necklaces usually have long elaborate crescentic pendants, and in the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean they tend to have pendants made from coins, or sheet silver shapes. The hollow stamped pendants on this piece, shaped like ears of corn, but often fish-shaped, are typical of the necklaces worn in eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus. Necklaces in that region often have a prominent central plaque, sometimes set with a coloured paste, but this is a simpler form. These were worn across the forehead, as well as round the neck.

It was bought for ten shillings at the International Exhibition, London, 1872.