A MOROCCAN BERBER DOUBLE-TIERED SILVER HAIR ORNAMENT
Dra Valley, Southern Morocco, ex-Spanish Sahara, Africa, 19th century

With a circular shank made of thin curved metal sheet, pierced and incised with repeating half circles laid out in two concentric bands, surmounted by an openwork double-tiered square structure with a faceted conical finial, almost reminiscent of a house with conical spire, the edges decorated with flattened granulation bands and small spheres in each of the four corners.

6.2cm x 2.5cm x 2.5cm

39gr.

For an almost identical specimen: Rachel Hasson, Later Islamic Jewellery, 1987, p. 66, cat. 83; and for an earlier reference: Jean Besancenot, Bijoux Arabes et Berberes du Maroc, 1953, plate XL, no. 179.

In her publication, Rachel Hasson explains that these ornaments usually held aromatic herbs or cloth drenched in essential oils, to spread a good fragrance on their wearers. In the 1980s, they were still worn by the Tiznit of Southern Morocco, an ancient group of mixed African origin, also known as the Haradine (R. Hasson, 1987, p. 66).