Cleveland Museum of Art

Necklace (muriya or murriyya)

Date

late 1800s or early 1900s

Medium

gilt silver, tree resin (possibly copal)

Culture

Africa, East Africa, probably Harar, Ethiopia, unknown silversmith

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This necklace is from is from the Ethiopian city of Harar, where it was worn only by Muslim women. It was part of the bridal trousseau. The spherical silver beads of this muriya necklace resemble Muslim prayer necklaces. Its warm yellow Baltic amber or Zanzibari copal simultaneously conveyed the wearer’s married status and her access to imported goods. Ornate filigree jewelry was historically made in Ethiopia for royals and nobility by specialized silversmiths trained through long apprenticeships. Customers were generally female, while silversmiths are always male. Besides archaeological examples, the oldest known Ethiopian jewelry dates from the 1840s; damaged items were typically melted down to make new pieces or to use during times of hardship.

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