AN OMANI SILVER THALER NECKLACE
Oman, Arabian Peninsula, ca. 1900

The braided white cotton thread embellished with small silver barrels with beaded bands, typical of Gulf and Arabian jewellery, a central silver pendant incised with a starburst medallion with geometric motifs, and six Austrian silver Maria Theresa thaler coins dated 1780 conceived as charms on the sides of the necklace.

45.5cm long

324gr. total

Silver thalers like the ones attached to this necklace act as important witnesses of the complex trading history between the West and the Levant in the 19th and 20th centuries. These thalers present a high silver content, and they remained unvaried for a long time, since they were first struck in Austria during the reign of the Austro-Hungarian Empress Maria Theresa. When she died in 1780, silver coins were minted with that date for commemorative purposes, regardless of the actual year of production, becoming known as Maria Theresa thalers. In the Middle East, such coins became very desirable thanks to their high silver content (83.3%), turning into an effective form of international currency. For over 200 years, Austrian thalers remained at the centre of the trading network of European merchants and the Arab lands, being used to buy precious exotica materials such as spices, coffee, Arabic gum, indigo, pearls, and tortoise shell. Once in circulation in the Gulf, these coins were then paid to complete important transactions, given as dowries, embellishing bridal accessories and jewellery, and employed as a valid source of silver, often melted locally.