Omani Folk Art

19th century Middle Eastern traditional Arabian tinned copper and brass Dallah coffee pot. Coffee pot hand-hammered and chased copper with riveted brass...

19th century Middle Eastern traditional Arabian tinned copper and brass Dallah coffee pot. Coffee pot hand-hammered and chased copper with riveted brass...

Middle Eastern traditional Arabian tinned copper and brass Dallah coffee pot. Coffee pot hand-hammered and chased copper with riveted brass finish and a ...

Stunning and rare Omani tribal necklace in gold and silver featuring eight Burgau thalers dated 1780 and a large amulet box (Hirz) also in gold and silver. 19th century. Very good condition. Preserved and professionally framed. Dimensions of the necklace: 52 x 30 x 3 Dimensions of the frame: 70 x 47 x 5 Secure shipping. This fine Omani necklace of silver and gold comprises two strands of spiky, seed pod-like silver beads; gold-wrapped beads; eight silver Maria Theresa thaler coins; and a large silver and gold amulet box, with multiple chain tassels each of which finishes with a square-shaped pendant cut from sheet silver. The cigar-shaped amulet box called hirz would have contained some Koranic verse or religious text. Such a spectacular display of wealth would only have been worn at times of important festivities such as marriage celebrations. Maria Theresa thalers were made in Austria since the reign of Empress Maria Theresa of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Empress died in 1780 and since that time, all thalers that were subsequently struck were minted with that date regardless of the actual year that they were produced. The coins achieved such a level of trust for their silver content (which is 83.3% silver) in the Middle East that neither the design not the date was varied, and so for more than 200 years the coins were used as an international currency among the tribes and the states of the Middle East, in much the same way as the Spanish dollar was used as an international currency at the time elsewhere. The thalers were used to complete most important transactions locally and were also given as dowries. They were also an important source of silver and were melted locally for jewellery. The coins made their way to the ports of the Red Sea, Egypt and northern Africa from the ports of Genoa, Trieste, Livorno and Marseille. European traders used the coins to buy precious materials from the Gulf and northern Africa which it desired – commodities such as spices, coffee, gum Arabic, indigo, pearls, and tortoise shell. The importance and the beauty of the coins saw them incorporated into local jewellery most particularly in Oman and Yemen. References Al-Jadir, S., Arab & Islamic Silver, Stacey International, 1981. Harrigan, P., ‘Tales of a Thaler’, Saudi Aramco World, January/February 2003. Hawley, R., Omani Silver, Longman, 1978. Hawley, R., Silver: The Traditional Art of Oman, Stacey International, 2000. Rajab, J.S., Silver Jewellery of Oman, Tareq Rajab Museum, 1998. Ransom, M., Silver Treasures from the Land of Sheba: Regional Yemeni Jewelry...

19th century antique Middle Eastern traditional Arabian tinned copper and brass Dallah coffee pot. Islamic Moorish coffee pot hand-hammered and chased c...

Middle Eastern traditional Arabian brass Dallah coffee pot. Islamic Arabian Coffee pot hand-hammered and chased Moorish brass with riveted brass finish an...

Middle Eastern traditional Arabian brass Dallah coffee pot. Coffee pot hand-hammered and chased copper with riveted brass finish and a very large spout....

Middle Eastern traditional Arabian brass Dallah coffee pot. Coffee pot hand-hammered and chased brass with riveted brass finish and a very large spout. ...

19th century Middle Eastern traditional Arabian tinned copper and brass Dallah coffee pot. Moorish Coffee pot hand-hammered copper with riveted brass fi...

Middle Eastern Asian traditional Turkish ottoman copper Dallah coffee pot. Coffee pot hand-hammered and chased tinned copper with riveted brass finish a...

19th century Middle Eastern traditional Arabian tinned copper Dallah coffee pot made into a table lamp. Coffee pot hand-hammered tinned copper with rive...