Collection record · Small worlds
Necklace (ashän ketab) with amulet pendants (tälsäm) and bead
The collection record classifies this work as jewelry. It is dated late 1800s or early 1900s. Recorded culture or place: Africa, East Africa, Ethiopia, unknown silversmith.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Necklace (ashän ketab) with amulet pendants (tälsäm) and bead
- Date
- late 1800s or early 1900s
- Culture / origin
- Africa, East Africa, Ethiopia, unknown silversmith
- Materials and technique
- mercury-gilded copper alloy
- Dimensions
- Not specified by the museum
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 2025.154
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
Ornate filigree jewelry was historically made in Ethiopia for royals and nobility by specialized silversmiths trained through long apprenticeships. This gold-washed silver necklace is composed of numerous box-shaped amulet pendants (tälsäm) meant to ward off the evil eye or other dangers. Linked to Islamic amuletic practices, the boxes are effective whether empty or whether they contain magical or prayerful texts. Their fine filigree and granulation work is characteristic of Harar as well as the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian city of Aksum.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of Raymond A. Silverman · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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