Featured Tuareg (Amazigh) cross

Good evening, all. I would like to share a relatively recent find with you, for reference, for pleasure and to see what I can learn.

It is a Tuareg "cross," made of silver (not tested) and with a central blue cabochon, which I do not believe is turquoise--or even natural. The cross is of the abalak style, one of the 21 different styles, at least according to the following sources. It has many of the traditional markings and incisions, which all signify something to the Tuareg.



"For you, it may look like a small unimportant detail, like your thumbnail. But for me, it is the whole vast world. Look at this jewel... here is the ant, here is the hyena, the jackal, the hoof of a horse, that of a gazelle, the sun, the moon, the stars, the good eye... this triangle, this is woman, and here are the eyebrows of the Malignant One, there, laughter... it is all of our lives in one piece of silver." (Translated from the French by Helene E. Hagan, from original Tuareg words of an artisan cited by J. Gabus, 1971)


The cross is suspended from a necklace comprised of many small round black glass beads and four small cylindrical silvery beads.

For more on Tuareg crosses and jewelry, see:

https://mohamedahnou.weebly.com
https://www.amazigh.it/tuareg-crosses/
https://www.ornamentmagazine.org/articles/tuareg-jewelry-413

 

Very nice Tuareg cross @GreekAntiques , and a lot of symbolism. Is there anything on the back?

I love Tuareg jewellery and leather crafts.
Do you mind if I post some of my collection, and we make this into a general Tuareg thread? I know I'm just barging in, so if you don't want to, that's fine.

Over the last twenty years or so the Tuareg have been adding dyed agates to their traditional jewellery. The stones are imported from Idar Oberstein in Germany.
The glass beads are traditionally imported from Czechoslovakia.

The link between Idar Oberstein and the Tuareg is a fairly old one. I think it began in the first half of the 20th century when the lapidarists of Idar Oberstein made agate Talhakimt or Tanfouk amulets for the Tuareg market.
Talhakimt or Tanfouk are worn as hair ornaments or as pendants. In some dances young men wear them as rings on all fingers to make a clicking sound to get the attention of young ladies.

Various types of Talhakimt/Tanfouk of different ages in the Africa Museum in Tervuren, Belgium:



Agate and plastic Tanfouks worn as hair ornaments and on a necklace (the lower one), Mali:


Photo: Georges Courreges.

 

Good morning, @Any Jewelry

A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Thank you for the pictures--such beautiful people--and the information about the agates and beads. Very helpful.

I'd be delighted to make this a Tuareg resource. Since I am new to the forum, I didn't know you could keep updating threads indefinitely. I'd be happy to post more pictures, starting with the back of the cross. Please see below!

It does not have any markings; perhaps they have been worn off. I have another which does. I will dig it out, along with a number of rings that I would very much like to know more about. Unfortunately, none are especially significant in my view, but they will serve as starters. We learn from everything, especially our mistakes.

 

A pleasure to meet you too, and thank you for starting this thread.

Wonderful!
They weren't all signed or decorated, but they are all beautiful.

Would love to see them. I hope I can help, I am no expert, just an afficionada. We are all here to learn.
I'll post some of my Tuareg jewellery later.

 

I'm now visualising Rowan Atkinson. Only Brits will know why.

 

The credit card ads?
(Not a Brit)

 

I'll start with the 'mother of Tuareg crosses', the Agadez cross. It is said that other Tuareg crosses are derived from, and local variations on, the Agadez cross. It is also known as the 'Croix du sud', the Southern Cross.

Agadez is in Niger, one of the countries the Tuareg live in. They originated in Algeria, but were pushed south and west by the advance of the Arabs.

This one dates from the 1960s, when someone thought it a good idea to use a barrel clasp instead of the traditional hook clasp. It works either way.


Detail, the small dots symbolize the watchful cameleon eyes, for good luck during travel. The design around the edges symbolize the cross-stitching on tents:


Tuareg and other Berber (Amazigh) crosses are not crosses in the Christian sense, but they symbolize the four cardinal points. The 'head' of the cross is the owner, as part of the physical and metaphysical world.

 

Yes! Did you get those, aj?

 

An amulet case, called Tcherot. Most Tcherots are square or X-shaped, with leather cords or a necklace attached to two corners.
This one is diamond-shaped. Detailed engraving with niello.
The beads are Czech glass, one of them is a stray peacock bead, just below the Tcherot. The small metal beads have tiny designs on them.




Tcherots are hollow and often hold protective items, Quranic texts, magic letters or numbers, or tiny stones.

Text on the back, possibly a signature. The script is probably Tifinagh, an old Berber script which is derived from the Punic script used in ancient Carthage.

 

I must have seen them on a British TV channel, either here or when visiting relatives.

 

Once seen, never forgotten.

 

I picked up a couple similar necklaces last summer at a sale. I’ll have to post them next time they show their faces. I was under the impression I overpaid after my initial research. I think they are pretty neat though!

 

I sneak onto Channel 4 to watch "Escape to the Chateau" with my wife and son....by the way , Angel is a lovely lady and has emailed me 3 times in response to my emails to her and one to her Jeweler dad..... you have to "sneak" in the back door via a VPN to watch, otherwise they "know" your not in the Uk....don't tell !

 

Our local PBS station has been showing the Chateau series for quite a while. No sneaking in the back door. Where do you live that you have to watch on a "British channel?"

 

I watched the show on Belgian TV. I believe it was also on one of the Dutch stations, but the Belgians are usually ahead of us.

I'll be posting more Tuareg 'stuff' later on. I hope @J Dagger 's necklaces show their faces too.

 

Greetings, @Any Jewelry @Ownedbybear and any other Tuareg or tribal jewelry aficionados. I had some incredibly good fortune recently, and picked up these lovely necklaces. I am eager to hear what you have to say about them.

Here, hopefully, are the first few. I just discovered that you cannot post more than 10 pictures. I trust the pictures have enough detail. I've taken both front and back, so that you can see the signatures.

No. 1



No. 2 (A smaller pendant made its way into the last picture; it is not part of the necklace.)





No. 3



No. 4

 

To continue, here is the last necklace, and a group shot. You can see the small pendant in its entirety here. I am not certain as to whether it is Tuareg, but I liked it very much.

 

Gorgeous, I'd have that in a heartbeat. All of them beautiful pieces, of course.

I don't think it is, but it is very nice. Doesn't look out of place with the Tuareg jewellery either.

I took some more photos, but they aren't on my computer yet. My things are mostly older, so not as glamorous as yours. Also some leather amulet/Quran cases etc.