Malay-Inspired Yemen Silver Pendant (Kisra)

Pendants of this type known as a kisra are seldom seen. Traditionally, they were worn by married women and were not for festivals, but for everyday use, worn as protective or talismanic devices.

It has four prominent curved ‘horns’ at each corner, and the surface is decorated with applied silver faceted granulation work. Three small hollow spheres dangle from the lowest part of the base.  Eyelets to allow suspension are attached to the upper horn-like projections.

A related example is illustrated in Ransom (2014, p. 168), and Backman (2024, p. 111).

The form is very similar to the dokoh pendants worn by Malay men and women on Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, the form of which is based on the breadfruit leaf (daun sukun). It is likely that the kisra is a direct copy of the dokoh of the Malays. Such influence has come from trade, immigration and haj routes. See Backman (2024, p. 111) for more on this.

Certainly, there have long been historic ties between Yemen and Southeast Asia and to this day, many Muslims in Java, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula have mixed ancestry which includes ancestral ties to the Hadramaut region of Yemen. Hadramis on Java for example often were involved in textile trade.

The pendant here is in in excellent condition.