Yemenite Silver

In two great immigration waves Yementie Jews took their art to Israel; for a long time it looked like their art would become extinct there. Only when Yemenite filigree was re-discovered and suddenly became hot people started to learn again. The Jewish Webshop offers some beautiful examples by Israeli silversmith Irit Dekel, who specialises in these techniques.

According to Yemenite lore, it was King Solomon's romance with the Queen of Sheba that caused Jews from Judea to move to Yemen, hundreds of centuries ago. Another Yemenite legend has it that King Solomon sent maritime Jewish merchants to Yemen in search of gold and silver to adorn his Temple. Certainly descriptions of the Temple King Solomon built mention all kinds of smiths, including silversmiths.

In any case Yemenite Jews were the most prominent artisans and silversmiths in their land for ages. The islamic population did not make its own jewels and amulets. According to some the Koran forbade working with precious metals. Also there was said to be a special blessing on jewels and amulets made by a 'foreigner'.

When Jews were exiled from San'a and central Yemen  in 1679  - then unusually so for an Arabic country - they were called back soon: especially because their silversmiths and artisans could not be missed. Once there were three hundred Jewish jewelry shops in San'a, then the Amsterdam of Yemen but not all that big, all making jewelry in silver filigree. The jewelers were highly specialised: some gilded, others granulated or specialised in finishing the jewels.

The most characteristic jewels of Yemenite filigree are made of silver. Silver wires are twisted together and woven into a specific pattern, then welded together. After this the jewel is formed, cast and assembled. Yemenite filigree is finer than other kinds because it doesn't use flat silver wire but very thin wires twisted together.
Granulating is a typically Yemenite technique in which tiny silver balls are formed and arranged in a pattern on the flat silver - a delicate job for which a special glue is used untill the finished pattern is welded in place. Diamond-shaped pieces of silver are another much-loved motif.
And then there is  'rikuim', a Hebrew word for a special Yemenite technique in which the silver is shaped by hammering.

Yemenite jewelry originated as amulets made to protect the wearer and promote a good or fruitful life; only later people began to see its beauty and wear them as jewels. They were created to order, usually as a wedding gift for the bride where every shape has its own symbolic meaning.
A traditional Jewish Yemenite bride wears upto forty or fifty pounds of jewelry with a characteristic cap, a 'necklace' worn under the chin and a bracelet on each arm. These traditionally consist of two solid parts which close with a silver hinge (a truly wonderful example by  Irit Dekel is here; click the image to take a good look at the hinge mechanism.)