ETHNIC JEWELLERY

La bellezza dei gioielli e dei monili usati e costruiti dagli abitanti e dalle popolazioni di Africa, Asia e isole pacifiche, trova in queste pagine la sua celebrazione. L'arte del bello, spesso legata a riti religiosi, tribali, quotidiani, viene raccontata in una numerosa serie di immagini che svelano simbolicamente, elementi magici e scelte di forme e materiali.

PREFACE

My serious collecting activities started some 25 years ago. With my partner I mainly collected Japanese lacquer work. We were looking for beauty, craftsmanship and perfection. Our interest in ethnology and jewellery was already present in those early days.
Making trips to distant countries dates back to this period too. We would usually travel to Asia or North Africa once or twice a year. About 18 years ago I was introduced to Indonesian beadwork. I consider the beadwork made by the Dayak of Sarawak and Kalimantan, to be amongst the most beautiful in the world. The step from bead work to jewellery is just a small one, as I found out during a holiday in North Thailand, where we came across the jewellery of the hill tribes in the Golden Triangle. This beautifully designed jewellery was widely available at the time. In the beginning I felt very unsure about what made good jewellery. My purchases were based purely on intuition, on the same criteria of beauty, perfection and craftsmanship, that we have used when buying Japanese lacquer work. In my view this is still the best approach, although I am better educated and more experienced now. The combination of collecting and travelling is an ideal one. Collecting while travelling is not an aim in itself, but gives an added value to the travelling. Travelling and being introduced to other cultures is an enriching experience, for there are lessons to be learned from all cultures. Three countries have a special place in my heart. The first is Sarawak, because of the genuine friendliness and warmth of the people. When we were travelling in Sarawak, in small boats on the river, We were regularly invited to come and stay in a longhouse. I have a vivid recollection of one particular experience. At the time I wore contact lenses and one evening I asked for some boiled waters to help me put in my lenses. A dozen people drew around, and just stood there, not saying a thing, but very much interested in what I was doing. The following morning I had to go through the same procedure again. When I started the ritual, some 50 people gathered around to watch what was going to happen. To my question, "Don't you have any lenses?" one of the bystanders answered, "No, because we don't have a blind association".
The second country for which I have feelings of great warmth is Oman. In the Netherlands I came across some jewellery with a very strong design that was completely different from the jewellery made in other regions of the world. This Omani jewellery triggered my interest in the country and after some time I went there on a visit. I can still hear the people around me saying, "What on earth are you going to do there? It is just a large sandpit." This was far from the case. In winter the desert is in full flower and green. The wadis are full of water, and alive with fish and frog. The beautiful scenery and the kindness of the people make Oman a wonderful country. The third country of which I have very special memories is Egypt. There we met a nubian silversmith, Mohammed Silver, a pitch-black man with a long, white robe and a bright orange hat. We spent a few afternoons with him. He owned a small shop, about 2,5 metres wide and three metres deep, in which there was an enormous safe. We bought some pieces of jewellery from him, which he weighed on a pair of hand scales suspended from his fingers, adding some extra grams with his little finger every now and again. Whenever he showed us a piece of jewellery that we decided not to buy, he looked at it again with extra love in his eyes and than say in a loud, clear voice, "Beautiful, beautiful." Then he took another very penetrating look at us and if this did not work and we still were not persuaded, cast another glanced at the piece of jewellery, carefully put his treasure back in its box and said "Sleep, sleep!". [..]

RENé VAN DER STAR

CONTENTS

Preface
René van der Star

Africa

Jewellery from the Maghreb
Corien W. Hoek

Oman and Yemen

Silver jewellery from Central Asia
Annelies Moors

Central Asia

Turkmen jewellery from central Asia
Roelof J. Munneke

Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Tibet

India: a rural silver jewellery odyssey
Oppi Untracht

Southeast China and the Golden Triangle

Silver jewellery from Southeast China and the Golden Triangle
René van der Star

Sarawak and Indonesia

Beadwork in Central Kalimantan: an introduction to the colours and motifs used by the Dayak
Pim Westerkamp

Pacific Islands

Illustration credits

Index