We have a vast collection of images here which have been shared over the years ...
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Comments
Good old one Edith!, I like it being worked all around.
Thanks Harald! Too bad it isn't a matching pair. The silver shops are full of khokhal, but many of them these days are of inferior quality. I was happy to find this nice old one, even though it is missing it's mate!
Lovely piece Edith. Is it heavy?
About 250 grams.
Is this an anklet or armband?
This is an anklet. These are found in every size for children and adult. Check out this photo....
Thank you Khokhal Farag for showing the foto. I always thought that anklets had an opening or were hinged,how else was one to get into them. But on this picture it shows they are very big but I suppose they are meant more as a dowry than to flatter the wearer.
I do think that your anklet is a beautiful piece of workmanship and a joy to look at.
I have also seen little girls wearing these khokhal at all women wedding parties. They are also sometimes given by the groom as wedding presents, but families also often own a traditional costume/jewelry collection that is shared by the women. Females cousins often wear the same dress (hand embroidered with silver threads) and jewelry as brides. This puffy anklet is usually silver or gilded silver, but I have been told that in rare cases it was made from solid gold for the very wealthy. The bride in my photo is obviously making a point about her family wealth by wearing 2 sets! (I think hers are probably gilded silver).
Here is another example of jewelry that seems to have a very strong Fatimid influence. These anklets are more typically known as "khokhal farag" ("farag" trans. as "of the life"), but according to Paul Eudel they are also referred to as "khokhal menfoukh" ("menfoukh" according to Eudel signifies "gonfle" ...i.e. "inflated"). Many of the "bracelets" and "armlets" dating from the Fatimid period apparently had the same type of construction...specifically the ring is made from a piece of sheet metal decorated with repousse and folded into a hollow tube. Here is an example of a Fatimid bracelet in a museum...
And another example....