MANY people are unaware that for thousands of years North Africa — Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Egypt — served as a crossroads for the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. Well before the Christian and Muslim eras, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans and Greeks mingled with the Amazigh people. A proud people, also known as Berbers, the Amazigh are thought to be the original inhabitants of the region, along with Africans from south of the Sahara Desert.
Following the Arab conquest of North Africa in the 7th century, the Imazighen (plural of Amazigh), gradually converted to Islam and assimilated into various Arab communities.
They played an important role during the Arab conquest of Spain in the 8th century, and built empires in North Africa and Spain from the 11th to 13th centuries.
To this day Imazighen still preserve many aspects of their cultural identity, and, in addition to Arabic, speak their own distinct languages. Around 20 million Berber speakers currently live within this region, most in Algeria and Morocco and eastward through the rest of the Maghreb and beyond. Many Berbers call themselves some variant of the word Imazighen, meaning “free men.” This is common in Morocco, but elsewhere within the Berber homeland, more local terms, such as Kabyle or Chaoui, are often used instead.
Much of Amazigh’s North African artwork is well known throughout the world for its distinct delicate pottery, beautifully embroidered and woven textiles, elegant woodwork, leatherwork and metalwork, and intricate silver and gold jewelry. Now, their artwork currently is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC. The exhibition and national tour are organized by the Museum for African Art in New York, and sponsored by Merrill Lynch.
“Desert Jewels” features approximately 80 pieces of distinctive jewelry and a selection of photographs from Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia that were collected by Guerrand-Hermès, a director and vice chairman of Hermès of Paris, the renowned Paris-based fashion empire. He represents the fifth generation of the family to be involved in the ownership and management of the Paris-based firm. Guerrand-Hermès’ collection spans decades and provides insight into the region’s changing societies. The photos displayed show daily life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, while the wide range of jewelry illustrates the diversity and enduring beauty of North Africa’s artistic traditions. Not all of his collection is on display, as the museum’s display space was sadly restricted, but the assembled pieces show beautiful examples of the elaborate jewelry worn by North African women. Crafted from combinations of silver, coral, amber, coins and semi-precious stones, the enviable collection includes wedding necklaces, hair ornaments, bracelets, earrings and “fibulas” — used to keep veils in place. The profusion of pendants, colored enamels and precious or semiprecious stones transform the pieces into works of art at a time when women received jewelry from their husbands as a dowry, and then wore them as symbolic expressions of their identity and social standing. Some jewelry was worn, as it is today, to protect the wearer. The hand, or khamsa (five in Arabic), was considered a potent shield against the evil eye.
North African jewelry came to the attention of Western collectors in the 19th century, the period when archaeological monuments in North Africa were being explored, visited and, in some cases, pillaged. Also, the jewelry designs varied not only from region to region, but also in cities and villages. In the rural areas of North Africa, the jewelry was generally made of silver and favored geometric form and decorations. Pieces crafted in urban settings were also made of gold display florals, arabesques and rounded designs.
Many jewelers in urban centers were descendants of Jews who fled Spanish persecution beginning in the 13th century. Traveling jewelers worked in rural areas, where their techniques included casting, piercing, filigree work and enameling, with techniques adapted from Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Byzantine traditions.
Also, their choice of materials for North African jewelry reflected the varied cultures of the region’s inhabitants and their long history of extensive trade and contact. They used imported materials from the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, which were then combined with local materials. It was not unusual to find jewelry with elements, some more than 2,000 years old, from Europe, India, ancient Egypt and Central Asia.
As throughout Africa, beads were imported or made locally for thousands of years. Beads were a favorite of jewelers and were widely used to form all shapes and sizes; they were made of stone, coral, amber, glass, shell, old coins and later Bakelite and plastic buttons were combined in elaborate designs.
Often older jewelry forms were handed down over generations. Amber, a fossilized resin imported into North Africa from the Baltic and beyond, was often strung with beads made of copal, a semi-fossilized resin found in West Africa.
As with women throughout the world and throughout history, gold and silver were metals of choice in North African jewelry. Because pure gold and silver were rare and restricted to the wealthy, most jewelers worked with alloys, sometimes made from melted coins, salvaged metal objects and discarded jewelry. Styles and techniques also reflected the history of the region. Jewish silversmiths living among the Kabyle of northern Algeria specialized in cloisonné enameling. Other techniques, such as filigree, granulation and engraving, suggest ties to areas as distant as Yemen, Syria and Somalia.
Materials were thought to have protective and healing qualities as well as symbolic meaning. Silver was linked to honesty and purity, and when combined with certain stones, it was thought to heal certain ailments. Red Mediterranean coral, associated with life-sustaining blood, was prized for its healing properties. It was worn to promote fertility and to prevent harm to children. Yellow amber attracted sunlight and deflected darkness.
