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Comments
Oh I love these very much, just beautiful!! great find.
very nice with the hands of fatima and the fishes. Many of my bracelets of Egypt has also fishes!!
I searched for a matching set of these for months! I think the fish could possibly represent tuna. Tunisians are crazy about tuna. If you go to the supermarket in Tunis there is an entire aisle of canned tuna. Tunisians eat it on EVERYTHING...with harissa as an appetizer and on top of pizza. (I used to like tuna before I moved to Tunis...now I can't look at it!) Anyway, I think these shall always remind me of all the tuna I ate in Tunisia!
edith. the fish is synonyme of the fertility.it is the raison why ther is the circles arround. they represent lot of eggs
if you get a design with tree or leaves with circles. it represents olives. it is a wish for fertil earth and economical situation and richness.
if circles with bird, it is for a good agricultuarl saison ( more on pottery , talismans and amulettes )
Edith, are they old? Have never seen such like before? (even on ebay!). The earring hook looks very modern........
Hi Chantal...I do not know their age, but this design is well documented by Sethom in both of her books on Tunisian jewelry. It is always possible that hooks have been replaced, and I agree that they seem to be in unworn condition. I have seen other ornaments of same design in souk, but difficult to find pairs. I have also seen in tourist shops re-purposed as pendants.
Thanks Ait for your explanation regarding the eggs! The idea of the eggs makes perfect sense and is very interesting!
edith. if you are in tunisia and you have the opportunity to outside big citys, ask for villages where still traditional pottry made. there is women painting the pottry, talk to them and ask them about the painting. it will help a lot understanding the jewelry
Thanks Ait...most of the traditional pottery comes from Tabarka in north-western Tunisia...these are from the south. But I agree with you that it is very useful and informative to look at other female-dominated arts. In the south I think that one could draw parallels with carpet designs that also use fish. I have also seen identical geometric designs used on southern carpets and southern jewelry.