TWO PALESTINIAN WHITE METAL WOMEN'S BRACELETS
Collected in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, made in Palestine, ca. 1920 - 1950

Comprising a curved cuff bracelet, made of copper alloy with high zinc content, cast with five protruding hemispherical bosses on the exterior set against a ground of diagonal hatched lines, and encased within a braided band running around the edges; and another bracelet, possibly made of malleable low grade silver, with similar bosses, engraved with a stellar pattern, issuing heart-shaped motifs with applied wire.

The first 5cm x 5.5cm x 2.3cm and 70gr.

The latter 5.4cm x 5.8cm x 2.4cm and 38gr.

The cuff bracelet (haidari) in the present lot is almost identical to another specimen with protruding bosses in the collection of the Palestinian Museum, recently exhibited in the Hayy Jameel centre in Jeddah, Thread Memory: Embroidery from Palestine, 23.01.2025 - 17.04.2025. The exhibition curator, Rachel Dedman, explained that bracelets with round, breast-like protrusions like these were usually worn by Palestinian women who were beastfeeding, acting as a non-verbal, visual mean to inform the community of their state.

A selection of analogous Palestinian haidari bracelets made of silver and of white metal (not silver) attributed to Bethlehem, dating to the first half of the 20th century, are published in G. Völger, K. v. Welck and K. Hackstein, Pracht und Geheimnis: Kleidung und Schmuck aus Palästina und Jordanien, Katalog der Sammlung Widad Kawar, exhibition catalogue of the Rautenstrauch - Joest - Museum der Stadt Köln, 1987, respectively p. 303, cats. 163 - 165 and p. 320, cats. 216 - 220.