Twisted silver torque (Towk) with clasp inset with blue glass, and pendants, Syria, 1860-1872.

A torque of thick twisted silver-plated wire with a thinner strand of twisted wire wrapped between the twists of the main wire. The torque opens at the front. The lower half, on each side of the opening, is covered by a strip of flat metal decorated on the front with applied domes of open filigree alternating with turquoise-coloured glass beads in closed mounts. There is a small open filigree comma-shaped pendant hanging from the top of each dome. There is an applied coil ring in the spaces between the domes and pastes. The opening of the torque has a hinge consisting of one loop on one side and two on the other, which are fastened by a pin. There are ten loops along the back of the lower edge of the strip of metal, five on each side of the opening, each of which holds a length of quatrefoil chain. Each of these chains has a pendant on its end, alternating between a coin, and a flat triangle set with a red paste and with three pendent lobed discs on its lower edge. Each chain also has a pendent crescent set with a red paste hanging at its top, and another, set with a turquoise paste, hanging half way down. The pin which fastens the torque also has a crescent with a red paste hanging from its top, and a short length of loop-in-loop chain ending in a triangle with a red paste and three lobed discs.

A torque is a stiff metal ring, usually open at the front, which is worn round the neck. They were originally made of twisted metal, as the name implies, and were used as indications of rank in Celtic times. They survived as part of the traditional jewellery in a number of places, including Syria.

The design of this torque, with different wires twisted together and linked by a hook at the front, and long chain pendants ending in coins, is typical of those made in Syria and Iraq. They were mainly worn by the nomadic Bedouin. This example was bought for the Museum for 16 shillings and 6 pence at the International Exhibition, London, 1872 as part of a large quantity of traditional Syrian jewellery.

1545-1873