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very nice intarsia. this style reminds me a lot of Timbuktu. They had this already in 2000, I think it was Moorish influence then. I was told then it was Ebony (which it was not). Perhaps also Acacia, it seemed to be a soft wood. I had a bracelet completely made of wood with this design (silver and copper intarsia) and I loved it very much, I wore it all the time, but then the wood broke. I was really really sad about it, I kept the broken parts, they must still be somewhere at home. A pendant embraced by silver will not brake, the bracelet did not have this. I enclose a picture of my wooden Tuareg necklace and pendant, also from the year 2000, bought in TImbuktu, and still ok ´, just to see. The necklace with the beads and the square pendant is younger, I got it last year from my family in Mali.
eva. thank you for posting. it is ebony what you posted. yes the work is verry old . we find it in all sahel and sahara. even in ghana there is. what famous is : the ebony beads with this metall.
the pendant has a droop form, what reminds watter , the important think in sahara and life.
and then there is the trangles rpresenting the dunes and mountaines with the road in between. symbol of movement , travel and getting other items
the silver engraving. the top and bottom ones. the trinagle is symbol of tent ( house, athome,family) some call it gazelle and some see it as a seating terguia. but mostly as a tent. on it there is three leaves, representing a plant that just open and verry fragil but giving a HOPE for forward and existing. the all is a woman opening her hands, a source of live and the basic of our existance.
in the middle. there is Amazigh Z symbol of liberty with the sandale for the beliving and luck and the shield as power and warrior
@Ait Ouakli, thanks for your information, some I knew, some I did not. Very interesting, You really believe my wooden things are made of ebony? It is such a pity that the bracelet broke, I liked it most of all the items and I do not find a clear photo of it..... What a pity! this technique on the photo (the pendant on your photo) is better, with the silver around it, it is stronger and will never break..
Thank you for featuring
Eva, yours is ebony. in mali ,niger ... they all use ebony, but not for long time. the tree are dissepearing.
the acaccia in jewelry, i know it only from hoggar. it was actualy verry little pieces with silver. i encouaregd 4 years ago to work with large and flat pieces of the wood with little silver .
i always cover the pieces i make with silver to hold them. ebony brake easy even if it is hard ( missing flexibility ) acaccia not but better cover it. here a foto of some ebony strangs and pieces i have at hand
@Ait Ouakli, what a nice picture! That was interesting about the ebony. I thought ebony was so hard it could not break! So I was wrong (this is no problem, I do not know about ebony). Yes, with silver it gets much stronger, this sounds reasonable and logic. Oh I love the necklace on the photo below, seen on the top, it is gorgeous!