Posted 9 years ago
stwillia76
(137 items)
Hello all. Here is my vintage Thingy. I have absolutely no idea what it is. It is not marked. I don't know if it is silver. I don't know if it is a broken necklace. I don't know where it was made. It is approximately 20" long. This I do know. Each link has two thingy's. It does jingle all the time. It is very heavy at approximately 235 grams. Your guess is as good as mine as to what it is. Is it Moroccan, Southwestern, Gypsy? It would be good to know something about this strange piece.
Belly Dancers choker.....
Well I thought it could be something to do with a belly dancer. I also thought it could be something to do with a cape? I dont know
Very mysterious thingy! It is well made, all links soldered; perhaps the shells at each end may indicate not oriental origin?
In my opinion, worth having it tested for silver :-)
Does not look like silver; and it's been already tested by someone: note the scratch marks on the underside of clasp.
I have my doubts too that it is silver. I have a tester but I can't seem to be able to really read the results. Maybe I am doing it wrong. I did not test this piece.
It is well made and a wonderful thingy.
I don't know. Maybe it is some kind of cloak or shawl fastener. It's still a thingy.
It could be the front of a belly dancers belt...a necklace...
Even tho it's not a full proof test but it may help, does it stick to a magnet? (Stainless steel doesn't stick either) it's worth a shot!
It is not magnetic at all.
Dear stwillia, according my understanding your item is a ''trarilonco'' a head piece ornament wear by the Mapuches (South American tribe) whose members live in the south of Argentina and Chile.
They are well known for their silver craft. At the following there is a link to the Chile museum
http://chileprecolombino.cl/coleccion/trarilonco-de-eslabones-simples-cintillo/
http://chileprecolombino.cl/coleccion/trarilonco-de-eslabones-decorados-cintillo/
Photograph of a mapuche woman ornated with a ''trarilonco''and a ''trapelakucha''(pectoral ornament)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/28047774@N04/5903183704
Kind regards.
Wow thank you so much. It does look similar. I guess I need to test this for silver now. It weights 235 grams. Hard to believe someone lady could wear something like that but then again I don't see how some women wear the shoes they wear lol. Thanks all. Very interesting.
It explains a lot. I got this piece from a jewelers estate. There are several South and Central American items there. It seems obvious that the person was in this area buy the other items. I have Guatemalan Weddings Necklaces, Coin Pendants from Chile http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/142174-handmade-art-piece-silver-coin-pendant-c and a lot of Mexican jewelry.
Nice going Antiqua! That's what I love about being here!
stwillia, you might want to get all your pieces checked!
Well I will for sure. I kept coming back to this piece. I thought it was somehow special. Didn't really think it was South American. I was thinking Northern Africa. Where could someone get something like this appraised? Is there some kind of online appraisal service? I really do live out in the middle of nowhere.
Dear stwillia76, if you would like to know the market value for your item, the first step is elucidate which metal the trarilonco was made. For that porpoise you can buy some testers at a jewelry tools supply store, or buy trought ebay, amazon. After you have the certain if the item was made on silver or alpaca is posible to looking for how is the average market value.
Regarding the size, the Mapuche jewelry as are bigger and heavy. The ''status'' of the men was measured in how jewelled was his wife ornated.
Kind regards
Great information, thanks Antiqua. :)
Fantastic! Internet is incredible and a concentrate of the miracle is showing here!!!
Someone in Japan could identify a Chilian tribal thingy posted on an American site :-)
Bravo Antiqua!!!