We have a vast collection of images here which have been shared over the years ...
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Comments
Great old PC. Shame we cant see the bracelets very well...She could have been from Oran where there was a substantial Spanish community...Of course you are right about the amulets...
Can you check if there is a publisher at the back?
Jose, is the large, silver box a Koran case? What makes you think she is from Morocco?
Yes, Thelma. I think it is a Koran case. A really big one!. I think the lady is Moroccan rather than Algerian maonly because of the foulet and salamander khamsa. Also the belt buckle seems to point to Morocco. I am no expert but I would say that even the caftan looks rather Moroccan than Algerian. But, of course, I can be wrong. Chantal, I do not know who may have published the postcard (I do not have the origina) but the photographer seems to be Spanish (Alvargonzález).
Beautiful jewels and dress as well. I would love to wear it all!
there used to be many companies selling these postcards at one time.
they would buy photos and label them pretty oddly without any truth sense....
these poscards were rather products of passion, desirr and exotism and many are thought to have been used by european governments to encourage european settlers to move to north africa....propaganda tools in a way.
most depicting women were totally staged and some are quite phantasist!!
the combination of all of these jewels as well as bracelets would mean this lady come from anywhere around the coast from rabat to el jadida..
Hi Jose,
I was thinking how lucky we are that the European settlers, their artists and their administration had this fascination for the culture of North Africa as they have left us irreplaceable records of the monuments, genre scenes and of the locals and their jewels that we would never have had otherwise.
Thank you again for posting.They have added a lot to our knowledge of the history of these wonderful lands.
I agree with Alaa Eddine. So many of these old photos were for consumption in Europe to satisfy the oreientalist gaze and are not accurate documentary records at all. Many photographers staged their subjects with jewelry totally inappropriate for the region. As long as they were suggestive of a "tribal" authenticity. We can see this matching and mixing in old films were India, China the middle east were all interchangeable in portrayals of "the orient"
You are quite right Nada about the occasional lack or accuracy,,,,Where is the alternative please? I look forward to seeing it. Ta
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