Mária tallér nyaklánc - Ezüst - Omán - 20. század első fele

Omani bedouin silver necklace

Origin: Oman Nizwa

Period: first half 20th century

Length necklace (approx): 90cm, length amulet box (hirz): 14cm

The necklace is incased in a beautiful glass covered box-frame mounted on a velvet green background.


This beautiful Omani bedouin necklace of silver and gold is a fine examples of its type. It comprises of a strand of spiky, seed pod-like silver beads; gold-wrapped beads; six silver Maria Theresa Thaler coins; and a large silver amulet box (hirz) decorated with gold sheet panels, with multiple chain tassels each of which finishes with a square-shaped pendant cut from sheet silver. The ends of the necklace are capped with long beads of wrapped silver wire.

The amulet box or hirz would have contained some paper with Koranic verses.

Such a spectacular display of wealth would only have been worn at times of important festivities such as those association with marriage celebrations.

Maria Theresa Thalers have been struck in Austria since the reign of Empress Maria Theresa of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Empress died in 1780 and since that time, all Thalers that were subsequently struck were minted with that date regardless of the actual year that they were produced. The coins achieved such a level of trust for their silver content (which is 83.3% silver) in the Middle East that neither the design not the date was varied, and so for more than 200 years the coins were used as an international currency among the tribes and the states of the Middle East, in much the same way as the Spanish dollar was used as an international currency at the time elsewhere. The Thalers were used to complete most important transactions locally and were also given as dowries. They were also an important source of silver and were melted locally for jewellery.

The importance and the beauty of the coins saw them incorporated into local jewellery most particularly in Oman and Yemen.


Total weight 5.6kg

84cm x 53cm x 6cm