Ceremonial Dowry Collar

This Ceremonial Dowry Collar from the Zaer-Zaiane in the Middle-Atlas region of Morocco is an impressive work of finery created by Amazigh Jewelers. Weighing 17 ounces, it is made entirely of pure silver. There are five Koranic boxes spaced around the necklace, with rows of coral beads placed between them. Hanging from the boxes are Moroccan dirhams that date the necklace to the mid-20th century.

In Amazigh society, jewelry plays an important role in cultural expression and are communicators of wealth, social status, tribal identity, fecundity, and religious beliefs. For Amazigh women jewelry is an art of self-identification and creativity as women are the ones who create the assemblages of materials and design the structure of the overall piece. The materials used in the assembly of these pieces connote their meanings. In the case of this necklace, silver symbolizes purity, bringing with it innocence and fidelity, honesty and nobility, and feminine beauty and virginity. Silver dirhams serve as a primary material in finery symbolizing wealth and giving the object a value. Coral is said to be praised by Allah and cited in the Quran as a beautiful stone, and is used as protection against the evil eye, symbolizes fertility, and is thought to contain baraka, a spiritual force in Islam that flows from Allah and wards off evil.

Sources:

Draguet, Michel, and Nathalie De Merode. Berber Memories: Women and Jewellery in Morocco: Through the Gillion Crowet Collections. Mercatorfonds, 2021.

Jereb, James F. Arts & Crafts of Morocco. Chronicle Books (CA), 1996.