We have a vast collection of images here which have been shared over the years ...
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I love the two on the far left and the far right. The hinged one is also very unusual...
Yes Betty, there are some real beauties amongst earspoons. It was like the crosses one of the favorit collector;s items gathered by the expats during my time. They make a lovely tableau when on display.
The old ones are always of good silver, because it was mostly an object for the people with a bit of status, mostly men. Gr. Ingrid.
Ah, These are the front sides, they are very Special!
Your collection is amazing Ingrid. So many earspoons. I've noticed that where there are earspoons, there are usually toothpicks too. Do you have a collection of toothpicks which you keep separately?
Hi Thelma, unfortunately that doesn.t work in Ethiopia. Sofar I had only one toothpick, and that because someone had it made and gave me one. But traditional I haven.t come upon them. They use sticks from a bush as a toothbrush and as toothpicks, always used after every meal, the modern wooden toothpick. (was already brought in since the Italians occupied them for a while,) before 1936 I do not know. I imagine thorns because there are some large thorn around in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Gr. Ingrid.
...yes, that's right Ingrid". If I remember right, it is a special bush - the wood becomes soft and looks almost like a mini toothbrush when you chew on it for a while. You often see people with these sticks in the corner of their mouth chewing on them. I also developed this (perhaps un-lady-like habit) and started to do the same with wooden toothpicks...
the toothbrush from a bush is common in all the Sahara. We used it while being on trecking on the camels in Mali. I still have an example at home, although it might not be the same type of bush as in Ethiopia. There it is less a stick than a small branch which, while being chewed, gets into the shape of a brush.
I think there are different trees or brushes being used for it, as long as it chews up like a brush. They sell them also as cut up sticks, ready for the chew. One comical story is that a clever guy was selling them in in Europe quite a number of years ago, with the story this stick is why African have such white teeth. The story doesn't tell how many he sold.