Jewellery & Goldsmiths' Work
Necklace with pendant (waqari or wakari?)
MetalworkGlassJewellery
Details
- Author / creator
- East Africa, probably Harar, Ethiopia, unknown silversmith
- Object type
- Jewellery
- Date or period
- likely early to mid-1900s
- Maker or workshop
- East Africa, probably Harar, Ethiopia, unknown silversmith
- Period / style
- Art Nouveau
- Place of origin
- East Africa
- Acquisition method
- Bequest
- Credit line
- Bequeathed by Mr and Mrs Harold Wren, 2024
About this object
Ornate filigree jewelry was historically made in Ethiopia for royals and nobility by specialized silversmiths trained through long apprenticeships. This elaborate pendant necklace (waqari) probably made and worn in the Muslim city of Harar. Muslim women wore such massive jewelry, which holds aesthetic links to nearby Yemen. Its half-moon pendant is a protective crescent shape and its upper filigreed capsule is an amulet. The crescent symbol has existed as a talismanic form in Ethiopia since the Aksumite Empire (1–700s CE).
Materials and technique
Silver alloy, glass
