Enquiry about object: 5158
Pair of Gold & Turquoise Mulberry-shaped Earrings
Saudi Arabia Circa 1900
length: 7.5cm, combed weight: 25.69g
Provenance
Private collection, Paris.
This pair of solid gold earrings is from Saudi Arabia. Each is set with a single turquoise cabochon, and they affix to the lobe with a screw-on mechanism.
Each has an open-work pyramidal section around a ribbed central part. They terminate with a cluster of spheres modelled after the mulberry – an ancient motif also used in jewellery in nearby Oman, Yemen and Iraq.
The use of high-carat gold with turquoise is specific to Saudi Arabia, which allows an attribution of these earrings to Saudi Arabia rather than say Oman (see for example a gold and turquoise necklace from Saudi Arabia, Leurquin, 2003, p. 165).
The pair are in a fine, wearable condition.
References
Hawley, R., Silver: The Traditional Art of Oman, Stacey International, 2000.
Leurquin, A., A World of Necklaces: Africa, Asia, Oceania, America from the Ghysels Collection, Skira, 2003.
Rajab, J.S., Silver Jewellery of Oman, Tareq Rajab Museum, 1998.
