Bedouin "lazem" amulet necklace. Arabian Peninsula (Yemen?), [first half of 20th century].
Silver, filigree and granulation; glass bead and other beads.
Necklace consisting of nine hollow polygonal ornaments, from which silver coins, long chains with bells, a row of coral-like red beads, disks, and other objects are suspended. Such necklaces were worn on the chin-line and thus suspended in front of the neck so that the chains would conceal the neck in curtain-like fashion. See also item no. 226.
Approx. 26X20 cm. Missing chain.
Reference: The Art of Bedouin Jewelry, p. 44.

Collection of pieces of silver Bedouin jewelry. Yemen, [19th and 20th centuries].
1. Forehead ornament (or headband). [19th century]. Leather band, to which eighteen decorated silver plates are attached, nine of them inlaid with coral beads. An 18th-century Maria Theresa Thaler (MTT) silver coin has been substituted for one of the original silver plates. Approx. 64X5 cm. Wear to leather strap; torn into two pieces.
2-3. Two forehead ornaments (or headbands). Net-like; composed of small square and round silver links, some convex, and some with suspended hamsa-like pendants. Clasps at either end decorated in silver thread and granulation. 36X6 cm. 37X6 cm.
4-5. Pair of head ornaments / earrings. Spherical, silver thread and granulation, and with diamond-shaped silver plaques. Long chains, with delicate flower-shaped pendants at their ends, dangle from spheres.
6. Nose ring. Approx. 5 cm.
7. Braided chain. Was most likely an element in a head ornament set, and made to support an assortment of suspended pendants and ornaments. 68 cm.

Statuette, portrait King Solomon. Ethiopia, [20th century].
Clay.
Statuette representing King Solomon. On the chin and on the back of the statuette are Stars of David.
According to local and other traditions, the Jews of Ethiopia are the descendants of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
Length: 7.5 cm. Width: 6 cm. Good condition.
Purchased in Ethiopia.

Three silver bracelets with decorations. Ethiopia, [early 20th century].
Silver, repoussé and engraved; silver thread and granulation.
1. Large, hollow bracelet (anklet?), decorated with twisted silver thread and with small conical spikes. Diameter: 13 cm. Minor blemishes and warping.
2. Large bracelet, decorated with twisted silver thread, granulation, and with square silver plates and round knobs that create flower-like patterns. Diameter: 7.5 cm. No clasp pin.
3. Small bracelet, decorated with twisted silver thread and with small conical spikes. Diameter: 5 cm.
Purchased in Ethiopia.

Torah finials. Ottoman Empire – Jerusalem, [5644 (1884)].
Silver, cast and engraved.
Turkish-Greek-style Torah finials (Ottoman Empire). Conical head surmounted by bud-shaped finial. Body in form of two flattened spheres decorated with vegetal patterns and cartouches. Supported on slender, tapering shafts. Chains with bells.
Dedicatory Hebrew inscriptions, partly obscured, engraved on shafts. One reads: "This is the Torah finial dedicated by R. Reuven Melamed […] toward the elevation of the soul of his son Yosef Haim […] in the Holy City of Jerusalem[…]" followed by a chronogram representing the Hebrew year 5644 (1884), and the verse "For by me your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased" (Proverbs 9:11). A similar inscription, with minor differences, appears on the second shaft, with a different chronogram, likewise meant to represent 5644.
Among the earliest pairs of dated Torah finials known from Jerusalem, perhaps the earliest of all.
Height: 24.5 cm. Good condition. Old soldering repairs, with minor damage to dedicatory inscriptions. Minor blemishes. Loose screw joints.
Purchased in Jerusalem in 1998.