A PAIR OF OMANI SILVER ARMLETS WITH DISC AND SPHERES
Oman, Arabian Peninsula, early 20th century

Each of circular shape, the main band cast and decorated with applied heavy silver wire wrapped around in coils, and dense spherical clusters predominantly on the sides, the front soldered with a disc with concentric granulation bands on the outer edges and a stylised floral medallion in the centre, surmounted by a central large sphere, the outer perimeter of the disc engraved with vertical lines and zigzag fretwork.

Each 11.5cm x 10cm x 3.4cm

Total 890gr. (440gr. and 450gr. respectively)

For an almost identical example: Heather Colyer Ross, The Art of Bedouin Jewellery: A Saudi Arabian Profile, 1981, p. 75.

According to the author, the specific design of these armlets is determined by elected designs associated to the specific Bedouin tribe of origin. This would explain why these adornments tend to feature only a limited set of patterns, often with minor to no variations in their decorative repertoire.