We have a vast collection of images here which have been shared over the years ...
Click on an image to see the discussions around the piece.
Enjoy!
We have a vast collection of images here which have been shared over the years ...
Click on an image to see the discussions around the piece.
Enjoy!
You need to be a member of Ethnic Jewels to add comments!
If you would like to receive our newsletter
Comments
The presence of the birds (or pigeons) in jewelry could very well be a very early biblical tradition brought to north africa by jewish migrants from the early christian time when they were expelled from nowadays lybian coast to what is now the algerian sahara and the moroccan south east.
We do find a lot of little pigeons/birds on earrings, diadems and even belt buckles
Much, much later ottoman influence spread across egypt, lybia , tunisia and algeria and they brought with them the bird representation but it was not heaviliy used on jewelry items but rather employed on beauty related items ( rose water sprinklers, mirrors, scent boxes....)
So we can conclude that the bird/pigeon could be a symbol of feminity and to a lesser extent of fertility
Thank you, Ayis, for the very interesting background information. There is a sweetness to many of these bird images which is definitely feminine.