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Comments

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  Joost Daalder May 27, 2011 at 6:47pm

  As for the age, I would rate this as at best 70-80 years old, and probably not as much as that. And I do not think it is a great piece either: personally I would sell it. I'd listen less to what you are told, and look more with a critical eye at what the piece itself tells you. Hope you won't my speaking frankly. But you have FAR better pieces than this.
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  Savanna Caravan May 27, 2011 at 6:53pm

  Hi Joost, thanks for your input. I didn't pay an arm and a leg, more like a thumb! but

  I liked the fragility of the peacock shaped pendant .. and doubted myself it's age which is why I put out a questionmark!  As the for the Turkmen piece, the date on the back is inscribed in hijiri Arabic as 1221 so if you know the calendar perhaps you can calculate from there.  It's now 1395, but I'm happy to stand corrected. It really is quite gorgeous and the patina is so soft.  Ha ha!  Wait till you see what I post when I return to Sydney mid June!  I'm glad you like what I have so far! Regards.
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  Joost Daalder May 27, 2011 at 7:02pm

  Savanna, I am not questioning your arithmetic re the Turkoman piece. I think it is a very good piece, and that it does have good age: could be even 100+ years. But I fear that you attach far too much importance to the inscription. Remember that such "dating" is very often added later, even if quite a few years ago. The piece simply fits in with a very large number of objects of similar workmanship which are invariably far more recent than 1837, and any pieces of approximately that date which I have seen have looked significantly older, particularly frontally. The back does help to indicate significant age simply on its own, if you ignore the inscription. But even it does not suggest the 1830s. The earliest this could be would, I think, be around 1890, but it could well be about 1920 or so. Don't let that worry you, by the way - the piece is desirable, and good. And it is VERY common for people to think that ethnic jewellery is much earlier than in fact it is.
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  Savanna Caravan May 27, 2011 at 7:14pm

  Thanks for your sage words and advice.  This is why people like me love people like you!  I just thought the inscription was a nice touch and it's a lovely age and piece however old it is. I had wondered about the inscriptions being added later.  1890 or even 1920 works for me anyway! It's all so arbitrary. I've only just started "collecting" good pieces - for years I've remodelled piece I've found on my travels.
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  Joost Daalder May 27, 2011 at 8:22pm

  Good reaction, Savanna, and I am pleased by the thought that people like you love people like me! For, obviously, I am very much a traditional and fairly hard-line "ethnic/tribal" collector. I think that in your collecting as shown in your pieces here (and there's a lot, hence no comment on all of them!) one can see the two factors you mention, i.e. your making up pieces (as many do) and your more seriously having started to "collect" more. What I am looking for is pieces in the second category, so I must be frank about that emphasis. And quite a few of your pieces are very good, as collector's pieces. Others I would not myself buy, as they are more in the "jewellery to wear" class, i.e. pieces that do not actually form part of the ethnic tradition, even if old ethnic bits and pieces are used. Those usually appeal to me less, and are for a different person. It is good to know you live in Sydney, and we should get together some time, either in Sydney or Adelaide! And by the way - without wishing to sound at all pussy! - have you got Truus's book? If you are serious about COLLECTING, it is by common consent very much worth having, and noone has regretted buying it. Also, are you on Facebook? If you go there, join me at "Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment" if you haven't as yet: that, in principle, shows ONLY collector's items - not all of them "important" either, but usually fully traditional, and several of them masterpieces. There's lots and lots. Truus and I are obsessive in our interest and passion for ethnic adornment, and I doubt that we shall ever actually STOP collecting. The book shows our collection (and pieces from the South Australian Museum) collected up to an including 2006, in essence. And we are still buying ...
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  Savanna Caravan May 27, 2011 at 8:41pm

  Joost, I actually have tried to look "into" your book, hoping for some "previews"! but it's not to be, it seems.  I've been travelling for four months, and am off to Venice tomorrow for several weeks, so books, alas, are not yet on my agenda, but yours is on my list! I love that with collectors pieces they have value without my having to do much except sniff them out and show the world. We must definitely catch up when I am back in Sydney. I have been folllowing the bead trail, beginning in Nepal, then Morocco, Turkey, and now Venice. Must sleep now as I have a plane to catch tomorrow to La Serenissima, but thanks for great, lively interaction and interesting comments. Savanna