Adornment and Identity: Jewellery and Costume from Oman

If you're a jewellery designer and are around London looking for inspiration, try visiting the free exhibition “Adornment and Identity: Jewellery and Costume from Oman” (until 18th September 2011) at the British Museum.

The event mainly focuses on Oman's recent cultural heritage and includes quite a few interesting pieces, mainly from the '50s on (some of them recently acquired by the British Museum) from Bedouin belts to hair ornaments and amuletic necklaces with thalers and rupees or decorated with little boxes or cases to carry around verses from the Qu'ran.

Some pieces incorporate images of female spirits (jinn) engraved in plaques or feature pieces of coral, considered as a symbol of mercy and bounty in the Qu'ran and believed to possess curative powers.

The talismanic power of jewellery is highlighted throughout the exhibition: specificic pieces with coral, cornelian, fox and wolf teeth were designed to protect the wearer from evil influence and preserve her in good health, but also colours can have special meanings, as it is proved by a Dhofari woman's dress (View this photo) with a matching headdress (View this photo) in a deep indigo shade believed to have talismanic powers and medicinal properties.

There are also entire displays of kohl pots, anklets and bangles, from D-shaped dhofany bracelets to “hajulah manfukhah” (or inflated bracelets) covered in geometric patterns, plus bracelets with spiked and domed bosses, elbows bracelets and rings for different fingers (jabira – thumb; shahid – index; haisah – middle; khatim murabba – fourth; shadaliyya – little finger).

A display dedicated to beaded and embroidered headdresses, ornaments and face masks (View this photo) highlights how the latter are also used as indicators of status, while simple and basic face masks are mainly employed as a protection from the weather.

Traditional costumes such as Lawati dresses and costumes for a Suri family (View this photo) including dishdasha (silk calf-length dress), sarwal (loose trousers), and saba'iyyah (shawl) complete the exhibition.

If you think that all this may not be too inspiring for your designs, have a look at the video embedded at the end of this post with further information by Fahmida, the exhibition curator, and be prepared to be amazed by the ruby-like quality of a red bicycle refractor (wait till I get my hands on a discarded bicycle refractor and you'll see what happens…).