"Lazem" amulet necklace. Yemen, [early 20th century].
Silver, filigree and granulation.
This type of necklace, known as a "lazem," represents one of the most important pieces of jewelry for Muslim and Jewish women of northern and eastern Yemen. It is composed of strings of silver beads threaded through a set of three square plates in the middle, and a triangle ("tata'arif") at either end. Attached to each of the three central plates is a cylindrical amulet case from which foxtail chains ("hirz msalas"), with beads at their ends, are suspended. On this type of jewelry, some ornamentations appear in odd numbers so as to ward off the evil eye. The ornamentations are threaded onto seven thick, braided cotton strands. See also item no. 231.
Approx. 32X18 cm.
References: The Yemenites, Two Thousand Years of Jewish Culture, pp. 132-33; the Hebrew-language website of the Association for Society and Culture, Documentation and Research of Yemenite Jews: teman.org.il.