{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O165058"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O165058/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BT3304/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BT3304/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2008BT3304","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O165058/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O165058","accessionNumber":"157-1898","objectType":"Necklace","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This necklace probably comes from Somalia.  Similar silver crescents were part of the dowry of the Islamic women of the Harer region in the Horn of Africa, but those worn today are single, unlike this unusual double construction.  They were traditionally worn with a necklace of valuable amber beads, which were highly prized for their supposed amuletic quality.  \r\n\r\nThe traditional Islamic jewellery of the Horn of Africa is quite different from the austere Berber silver designs worn elsewhere in North Africa.  It often shows influences from Arabian or even Indian jewellery, reflecting the region’s close historic trading and cultural links with those countries.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Necklace of glass and amber beads incorporating a large silver pendant.  The necklace contains 23 amber beads, each consisting of a roughly shaped disc of opaque brownish amber, and 39 round glass beads.  27 of the glass beads are black with a pattern of white discs with pink and blue centres, 8 are yellow with floral overlay in brown, white, pink and green, and 4 are orange with similar overlay to the yellow beads.  The glass beads are mainly arranged in two strands on each side between the sections of amber beads.  The pendant consists of two hollow crescents, the larger on top of the smaller, with rounded ends with a small pyramid of granules.  The fronts of both crescents are decorated with applied filigree spirals, flat discs, lozenges of twisted wire, and small pyramids of granules.  The pendant is attached to the necklace by five loops along the top of the upper crescent, and there are numerous loops along the lower edges of both crescents holding small pendants of bells hanging from S-shaped loops.  In the centre of the small pendants there is a large filigree bead, shaped like a cylindrical amulet case, with pendent bells.    ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silver","id":"AAT11029"},{"text":"amber","id":"AAT12934"},{"text":"glass","id":"AAT10797"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Amber and glass beads with a silver filigree pendant","categories":[{"text":"Jewellery","id":"THES48930"},{"text":"Africa","id":"THES49019"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MES","id":"THES48607"},"images":["2008BT3304"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"004","id":"THES375480"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Necklace","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Somalia","id":"x38287"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1850-1890","earliest":"1850-01-01","latest":"1890-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"26","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"16","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Accessions register entry: 'Necklace of strings of glass and amber beads, with a silver pendant consisting of two flat tubes joined together, encrusted with bands and spirals of filigree work and studded with variously shaped bosses; clusters of seed-like ornaments hang from the bottom, with a cylindrical pendant to hold an amulet in the centre. / North African / L. about 12 3/4 in., W. about 7 1/2 in./ Price - £6 / Condition - Some of the seed ornaments wanting / From whom received - Mr E. Sanderson, 71-75 Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, W. / Date of receipt from Stores - 9th February 1898 / Authority for purchase - Mr C. Purdon Clarke's on R.P. 83037/1898 / General remarks - Forty two glass and thirty two amber beads'\r\nDisplayed in \"V and A Africa: Exploring Hidden Histories\"\r\n15th November 2012- 3rd February 2013","historicalContext":"'The islands off the East African coast - Lamu, Manda, Pate, Pemba, Kilwa and the Comoros - were all, like Zanzibar, Swahili-speaking, Islamic and with tangible links to peoples deriving from the Arabian Sea and beyond. Much of the material culture reflects over a millennium of a distinctive history. Ornate chip-wood doors, boxes and high-backed chairs, silver-working or weaponry are all distinctive of participation in an Indian Ocean network of trade, influence and settlement.'\r\n<i>Africa, Arts and Cultures</i>, John Mack (ed.), London: British Museum Press, 2000","briefDescription":"Necklace (Muzé) of multi-coloured glass and amber beads with a crescent-shaped silver pendant, Somalia, 1850-1890.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"For illustrations of similar silver crescent ornaments see:\r\nFisher, Angela, 'Africa Adorned', Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1984, ISBN-13: 978-0810918238, p.282.\nLeurquin, Anne, 'A World of Necklaces: Africa, Asia, Oceania, America from the Ghysels Collection', Skira Editore, 2003, ISBN-13: 978-8884915504, p.112.\r\n\r\n"}],"production":"Possibly Zanzibar","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["157-1898"],"accessionNumberNum":"157","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1898,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-01-01","recordCreationDate":"2008-08-06","availableToBook":true}}