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Hi Lynn, You might be right. It is a type of work I haven't seen yet. Different from the previous one they made from nickel for the tourist market. A whole lot better. Being of one piece is not an indication of fake, with the old ones often the hinge may be broken and sometimes the hinge is left out and the two pieces soldered together. Another way you can recognize it also looking at the bail. It is completely unused. It can be replaced (if silver) many times the origenal is worn through. In your case the whole cross is compleet in one type of material. The dangles are an addition which do not belong. They really have improved their work to make it attractive for collectors.
I have also noticed on ebay p.e. that the crudely made crosses (which really did only cost very little) are almost not seen anymore. Perhaps people have woken up. Now these are the replacements. A lot more dangereous to be confused with the old ones . The bail and the silver content (not always the same propotions) can be something to watch for. One more question, is the back also decorated?
Very interesting! The questions is, does this cross from Ethiopia? I have recently seem Western sellers and designers making and selling Ethiopian style crosses or copies made from old crosses in different materials. Usually they are sold for what the are: a copy or free interpretation. But if they get sold on, they are often sold as Ethiopian crosses...
I agree Ingrid: you see a lot of nice sophisticated contemporary crosses these days, and of course there's nothing wrong with as long as they are sold as new one. It's actually great to see that Ethiopian craftsmanship is alive and adapting to new demand.
Still this piece is a pit of a mystery. To me it looks like the work of a jewellery designer, especially with these totally untypical dangles...
Another after-thought: could it be from Egypt?
Betty the dangles have nothing to do with it. They have just been added by the person who bought it. 5 yrs. ago I was introduced to whole sack of crosses most of them with the fillegrain work. Brought in by a dealer of Ethiopia whom I knew as a young streetvendor and he more or less was guided by me to be on the look out for silver items and antique wooden furniture . Well now he is a big and quite wealthy young man. He stayed with me and tried to sell them to me as old, watching if I could notice. It was very good work, although by touching them I got my doubts and took out the proper old ones. Only than did he admit the rest to be new and he had brought them in on order for a French dealer. I did buy one of them and tested it later for silver, and no silver used in them., how that worked out with the fillegrain I do not know because to bent the wire it has to be supple, perhaps led with nickel?
Also there was once a period in the 1975 when I was in Kenia and noticed in a tourist shop Ethiopia crosses made very rough and in the most funny looking material and the shop owner was selling it to a group of tourist as Ethiopian Silver. I felt offended because he was giving Ethiopia a bad name and I let it be known to him. Of course I was chased out of the shop. Later that same year i went on home leave to Netherland and there I saw in some warehouses Ethiopian crosses sold as earrings in none silver material. They were made in India. So Betty....anything is possible.
Thank you both for your comments. Ingrid, the reverse also has the carvings but less ornate. The central diamonds have an "X" on them instead of the lines and "o"s. I can take a picture when I go home.
I wonder if this is not a casting of a genuine cross... at the top you can see a crookedness of where the David star connects to the main cross body, as if this had been casted from a cross where the hinge had broken and then been soldered.
Betty, I do wonder if this is not a western casting, ie a museum replica. The dangles threw me off this idea as two of the pieces attached are quite primitive. Does anyone recognize the nickel flower dangle? Perhaps identifying that would help.
Very helpful comments.
First note is that overall shape and at first sight one is compelled to yell "Ethiopia"...this is more or less the only conclusion that we can draw from the picture of the cross proper.
Two side notes:
-first is the bail which is bold unused and pretty unfamiliar with ethiopian ones
-second are those dangles which are obviously out of place as if they were put on purpose to suggest some age...they are far too different in patina with the cross and anyone superficially familiar with ethiopian jewelery can easily claim that this is not a common habit (i personally have never seen it before)
Far from having a definite answer i am however tempted to join the group and cast some doubts on the geuinesse of this pendant!
@Ingrid: i am so shocked of the indian pedigree of the newly made copies...but again i have already seen kabyle jewelry made in Pakistan... so everything is possible! hhhh :-)
one last thought. It seems that Israel has some ethiopian smiths working in and producing a very blurred-lines jewelery that could be labelled as ethiopian because it is made by ethiopians but not exactely since it is made to fit with a western market....it could not be the first time that israel acts as such...it has already witnessed yemeni and to a lesser extent Uzbeki production made by the relocated jewish minorities
Israel is a possibility, too ... one more place with a sizable Ethiopian diaspora is of course South Africa. I've seen "Ethiopian" crosses coming from there - though they may well come India originally :-)
Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Here is a photo of the back and of the mold line on the side.
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