Hallmark Pics - Egyptian Bedouin Nubian Bracelet

[lisamcgu]

This seems to be a common design for a bracelet of this type.







I bought this bracelet, or rather 3 bracelets soldered together, all in, on eBay from a seller in Ottawa, Canada.

I bought the bracelet because of its interesting description. Whether it is true or not, I do not know. This is the description (sorry for the CAPs, that is how the seller had it) -

"YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE MOST FASCINATING PIECE OF STERLING BRACELET I HAVE EVER SEEN. IT WAS PLOUGHED UP IN A FRIEND’S FIELD DURING THE SPRING. IT LOOKED LIKE A PIECE OF COAL, I LEFT IT LAYING AROUND FOR A YEAR THEN GOT AROUND TO REMOVING THE ROCKS AND WHAT LOOKED LIKE COAL. I COULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT IT WAS AN AMAZING ANCIENT (NOT SURE ABOUT THAT) BUT WAS TOLD IT IS A VERY RARE PIECE. IT IS HALLMARKED IN SEVERAL PLACES. ON 9 OF THE BALLS, AND ON EACH OF THE THREE BANDS. IT WEIGHS AN INCREDIBLE 4/5 OF A POUND ..."

I didn't know what the hallmarks meant either, but given the cat and the all square stamps, I guessed Eygptian, and I have found that Canada does, indeed, have a large Eygyptian population.

Also, I did some due diligence on the internet where I found identical bracelets on the Haramlik website. They were listed as Egyptian Bedouin Nubian bracelets, and with the following such description "Heavy solid silver Nubian cuff bracelet. This beautiful bracelet is an old peice. Made and worn in southern Nubia and northern Sudan. 70-80 years - Stamped Solid Silver - width 0.4 inches, inner diam: 2.1 inches".


And from the Haramilk site, about Bedouin jewelry, in general,

"Bedouin items are old, original and are no longer being made. Bedouins nowadays, prefer to melt down their silver jewelry and use that money to buy Gold."

"Bedouins are nomadic tribes that existed in the middle east from the times of the Pharaohs. They span an area from Morocco at the Atlantic ocean, on to Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Jordan and Syria. Nomadic tribes go all the way as far as Afghanistan and even beyond. Although all the bedouins in the Arabic countries are now arabic speaking and belong to the arabic race, they are a people on their own, they owe no allegiance to any nation and are only loyal to their own tribe and family. Their constant moving from place to place made them rely on their silver jewelry which they can exchange for local currency in any nation they happen to be located at.

"A Bedouin bride received jewelry as a dowry. Apart from camels and sheep, a bride got various items of jewelry which she could later use as currency when in need of money. They usually melted down silver coins and handcrafted it into their beautiful and original jewlery. This, sadly, is now fast becoming an extinct practice as more and more bedouins settle down and become locals and citizens of specific nations. This also means that no new generation of craftsmen is emerging and we are now on the verge of a lost tradition and craft."

Also, I did some further inquiring, and what I have found so far from Khaled at Haramilk, who was nice enough to reply to my email, is this -

"The bracelet is like our bracelets and it is silver and genuine. The hallmarks are an 80%, meaning 80% silver content, and the other is what they call the Cat stamp. It is actually a Lion not a Cat. This lion means your bracelet was stamped around 1940 or so but the bracelet itself may have been made before that. These bracelets were only made around that time (120-80 years ago)."

Finally, regarding Egyptian hallmarks, from Randa, as posted at the Mystery Marks website, "A zero in arabic is a DOT ... from left to right the motif that is in the 1st square is an Arabic "80" meaning this is 80% silver. The 2nd square ... signifying it was hallmarked in Egypt (a Lion symbol was used instead up to the 1920's when Egypt was under British occupation). The 3rd square contains the letter ... in Arabic. The letter is used to signify the date of hallmarking."

[lisamcgu]

I still didn't get what ALL the stamps meant, like all three. Well, those Egyptians ... it is still a mystery! From Khaled at Haramilk, who was nice enough to reply to my SECOND email as well, this -

"The Cat/Lion means two things, that it is Egyptian and that it was stamped between 1920 and 1950 approx. Only the 80% indicates the actual Silver content value but if it was not Silver there would have been no stamp at all, cat, content or the third stamp.

In otherwords, the Cat and the third stamp indicate that it is Silver, the 80% indicates that it is 80% not 60% or 90%.

The third stamp is a letter which is a code that only the stamp authority understands. It is an Arabic letter. It has no significance except to that Authority. It is their way of catching fraud. No one outside the Stamp Authority understands the meaning of that third letter.

The maker or silversmith was sometimes indicated by additional stamps which do not belong to the Stamp Authority. Mohamed El Mekkawi is one such example which you will find on our Siwa bracelets. That stamp was called a Tara, it was basically Arabic Calligraphy bearing the name of the silversmith in it. But in your case, the stamps are Silver content, Cat/Lion indicating age, and the third Letter belonging to the Stamp Authority."

[Waylander]

From what I know of Egyptian hallmarks (which is not that much I might add), the "cat" was only used between 1906 (?) and 1946, which gives your piece a certain "age" period.

Waylander

[lisamcgu]

Actually, from the information gathered, it seems the date of the piece may be different from that of the marks, or not.

The piece was supposedly made from 1885 to 1925. And, according to different sources, the stamps were used for only a certain time period, either -

... - 1920
1906 - 1946
1920 - 1950

Since the item is from Canada, it would make sense that the item was stamped before export, for whatever reason, but was it just after the item was made, or not, I don't know for sure.