Tuareg Jewelry

    The Tuareg, despite being Muslims, have a love-hate relationship with the Arabs. When Islam reached them in the 700’s, they refused to give up a lot of their customs, and rejected a lot of Arab ones. The name Tuareg is in fact an Arab one which they do not use for themselves, possibly the name of one of their clans, which the Arabs assigned to the whole group. Since the 1960’s, when Francophone Africa was partitioned, the Tuareg’s camel routes have been restricted. Yet they have not been sucked into 20^th century society, and unlike the peoples of Arabia, they never gave up their nomadic ways.

    Most of the pieces in this book are silver, with gold rarely used. Perhaps the jewelers lacked the fuel to heat it? Or perhaps it was too valuable as currency? As for the designs, many of them show ancient Egyptian influence, others have European motifs, like the fleur-de-lis. One common type of necklace is the Tchirot, worn by men as a symbol of their clan or tribe. There are large rings, given to people in childhood, that are exchanged between couples as a sign of intimacy. Colors also come into play, because blue is a symbol of tamed spirits that can be controlled (not surprising, as blue is considered to ward off evil spirits in Arab countries.) Some of the pendants were obviously old coins of Arab, French, or British origin.

   While this book shows extensive research, I would like to have seen more about the jewelers. There were no photos of the artisans at work, and I would like to have seen more about the actual crafts process, how they learn their craft, and what kind of monetary value they place in their work. What fascinates me the most if that aside from the silver, there aren’t any precious metals or stones, just good quality craftsmanship. I’ve seen artisans here in New York making beautiful jewelry from old spoons, pickle jar lids, and worthless foreign coins that they’ve flattened and refined. It’s great to see that you can make beautiful things from cast-off metal , instead of gold and diamonds that fund African dictators.

    But unfortunately, gold and diamonds are what people want when they buy rings. A Tuareg silver wedding bracelet would not do for an American woman who expects a diamond (even though diamonds don’t come from the USA).