Minneapolis Institute of Art

Fibulae (tizerzai)

Ida ou Semlal Amazigh (Berber) artist

Date

late 19th–early 20th century

Medium

Silver, enamel, coins, glass cabuchon

Culture

Ida ou Semlal Amazigh (Berber)

Department

Arts of Global Africa

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Berber women in southwestern Morocco wore massive triangular brooches with a pin and clasp to fasten draped garments at their shoulders. Pointed items like these pins are shown popping and bursting the evil eye in North African mosaics from the Roman period. But besides its protective function, this jewelry promoted female fertility, as symbolized by the silver enameled egg attached to the decorative band connecting the brooches. Ida ou Semlal Amazigh (Berber)

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