antique nomad Afghan silver necklace spiral chokers chain swat kalash Nuristan Afghanistan No-17/11

Nuristan, Afghanistan: typical Kafir silver spiral chokers, made of good silver alloy, decorated with two red glass stones.

Northeast Afghanistan and western North Pakistan are an old, cultural and ethnological retreat area. Here lived the tribes of the Kafirs ('infidels') in large valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains. With their own languages, their own religion and their own culture. The present spiral choker is typical of the jewelry of the ancient Kafir culture. It consists of a spiral made of thick silver alloy, in which another spiral made of thin, twisted silver wire has been wrapped. These spirals end on both sides in round, smooth, cast and partly engraved extensions with bent bud ends. Silver appliqués are glued on using brown tree resin on the soldering points on both sides, where the spirals are brought together. Two old, large and perforated blue glass beads sit in their round rosettes, fixed with round silver plates. It is believed that this type of choker was originally made in the Swat Valley (now northern Pakistan) and traded west to the Kafirs of Afghanistan. dr Alfred Janata, a profound connoisseur of Afghan cultures, wrote in his book 'Schmuck in Afghanistan': 'Their production may have ceased around or shortly after 1900. In pre-Islamic Kafiristan, these hoops were symbols that could only be worn by men of high rank and their wives and daughters.'

H: 15 cm, W: approx. 16 cm.
Weight 355 grams

Silver alloy: very weak

*Due to photography and handwork, color variations may occur.

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The Kuchi nomad jewelry offered here is old and antique, handmade, sometimes very filigree folklore jewelry from Afghanistan. Old colored glass was used to embellish the jewelry pieces. After years of use off the logs, it is natural that there may be dark streaks in the pieces, stones may be missing, the glass may be pitted or scratched from desert storms, and small particles may be missing. Bear in mind that it may have traveled far - from nomads on mountains and deserts to Kabul and now to us!