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Incidentally I just lost a bid on a Tunisian (I think) bracelet tonight which was a very similar design though more finely engraved. I do not believe the piece you found here is Russian, Frankie.
Thank you, Betty. My thoughts, too!
Sorry about the lost bid - especially after our adventures with your superb Daghestan earrings today!
I`m only sorry I can`t show them here yet. My camera is broken. Would you mind if I showed your own photos here?
My feeling is that it is a N. African, Probably Tunisian? With the Bird motif which is common in the area of N, Africa. It is probably an imitated new crafted piece from an old design too, with a different hall mark. I am not positive though..to be honest.
That is a Tunisian bracelet for sure.
There is the smith's hallmark inside with his initials (?).
The age is very difficult to say but i am more used to tunisian pieces from the southern part of the country with these kinf of hallmarks being quite old and with possible links to western Libya (mainly the jewish smiths who used the mark their pieces with their name's initials using latin letters)
As for the number 8, this is a common tunisian feature as well which is connected to the bracelet's weight.
I have receinver contradicting reports of the value of the weight unit , but it could be anything from 11Gr. to 17 Gr.
The total weight of the bracelet would be ranging from 8x11=88 Gr. to 8x17=136 Gr.
Can you confirm the weight? i really should have kept an table with the weights of all the tunisian bracelets i came across to determine that unit value exactely!!
A last note regarding the hallmark, it could be that the seller is mistaken by the reversed latin letter (N) which does exist in the Cyrillic alphabet and thus made to think of it being russian BUT my humble opinion is that the person who made the hallmarking tool had obviously made it in a way that the mark when applied on the silver sheet is being reversed (could be red straight by applying a mirror against it)
IT should read then as : N K which as i wrote earlier totally fits the jewish smith origin
N would be the first name initial and K the last name initial:
I have had bracelets from Libya for instance made by the famous smith KAKON which have been making stuff in south tunisia as well (Djerba island) and was also famous there and his works were quite popular and pricey
Nahum KAKON, Nissim KAKON....are all possible names!
The patina however suggests a much later work that that of the famed smiths (early 20th century), possibly a son or a grand child/ younger relative work using the late smith hallmarking tool?!
Great info, everyone!
...of course, Frankie, pls. feel free to use my photos of the bird earrings!
Very many thanks, Betty.
Alaa Eddine, the seller gives the weight as 146 grams. They are selling another one too.
Perhaps I should say in mitigation of the sellerthat they are selling from Bulgaria so their mind might go to thing of a Russian origin due to their history and the fact that there are still many Russians living in Bulgaria.
The weight of the second bangle is given as 72grams.
I forgot to add that the second bangle is described as having the tzarist Russian court crown stamp dating it to around 1700, Peter the Great`s time!!!
Then my theory about the weight is somewhat incorrect or the unit should be bigger ( 8x18=144 gr but that is still short of 2 grams!!=
Maybe Edith can confirm or infirm this weight theory and maybe it is about the pure silver content and not the gross weight!
The second bracelet bears the Tripoli market. I know that these shield hallmarks slightly vary following manufacture date and maybe Mustapha can shed some light on this matter
Yes this is Tripoli Hall Mark , Circled. The other one is perhaps is the Mastersmith's but hard to read . Anyway this is a Libyan Piece crafted in Tripoli sometime in first half or few years thereafter of last century..
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