Three elements make up the jewelry of the Kuchi tribes of central Asia; lapis lazuli, carnelian & coin silver. The Kuchis are a tribe of Sunni Muslim Nomads of Pashtun origin living mostly in what is now the Shomali Plain in Afghanistan ( Summer ) - Pakistan ( Winter ).Although the Kuchis' reputation for toughness is hidden behind their brightly colored clothing and attractive coin jewelry, they are none the less considered a strong and highly independent group. When the Taliban ruled, they never forced Kuchi women to wear the burqa. The wealth of a family is noted in their livestock and their coin jewelry which ( as mentioned above ) consists mainly of; Lapis lazuli ( Latin=lapis, meaning stone and the Arabic azul, which refers to blue ) or literally, 'blue rock', traditionally was revered in middle eastern societies as an amulet of great power. The red stone, Carnelian was embedded into a silver ring worn by the prophet Mohammed and is esteemed for its great warmth and beauty. And most important, silver coins which maintains its whitish patina and does not turn other colors with age.All of this handcrafted tribal jewelry is original and consists of coins, silver amulets, beads, glass, pendants etc. and due to this, the pictures posted above are only representative of styles and sizes available, with no two pieces exactly alike ( unlike modern machine made items ).
No comments:
Post a Comment