Amulet
19th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This silver amulet comes from the Atlas mountains in North Eastern Algeria. The amulet is inscribed in Arabic and would have been worn by a Kabyle berber. Silver was a very popular material for jewellery as it was seen as a symbol of purity and honesty and rural Kabyle communities preferred it to gold which they regarded as a sign of vice. This brooch was probably made by a Jewish silversmith as the Berbers thought working with metal was an inferior occupation. Jewish silversmiths dominated jewellery making in North Africa from the late 15th century until the late 19th century.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silver, chased and engraved |
| Brief description | Amulet of chased silver, Algeria (Kabyle), 19th century |
| Physical description | Amulet of chased silver with an Arabic inscription. The amulet is a flat disk roughly cut with eigth small projections. The inscription is in three lines seperated by two bands. A plain, flat loop is soldered across the top. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | (There is an Arabic inscription on the amulet.) |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by Edmond Dresden |
| Summary | This silver amulet comes from the Atlas mountains in North Eastern Algeria. The amulet is inscribed in Arabic and would have been worn by a Kabyle berber. Silver was a very popular material for jewellery as it was seen as a symbol of purity and honesty and rural Kabyle communities preferred it to gold which they regarded as a sign of vice. This brooch was probably made by a Jewish silversmith as the Berbers thought working with metal was an inferior occupation. Jewish silversmiths dominated jewellery making in North Africa from the late 15th century until the late 19th century. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 283-1904 |
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| Record created | March 28, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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