Qannuta element of a necklace known as al-haiathe, Northern - Lot 74

Qannuta element of a necklace known as al-haiathe, Northern Morocco, probably Tetouan, 18th century Tubular gold element decorated with polychrome cloisonné enamels depicting plant motifs with four lobed leaves, a frieze of small filigreed and openwork spheres on each side. Opens at both ends, forming a case. H: 4.5 cm; PB. 16 g Minor accidents to the enamel. This cylindrical element, called qannuta from the Arabic qannût(a) / "portion of reed caught between two knots", probably by formal analogy, completed a neck ornament that has now disappeared. The type of necklace it formed, generally alternating with balls of filigreed gold or strings of small baroque pearls on either side of a central pendant, is based on a prototype known from 14th-15th-century Nasrid jewelry, as attested by the necklace from the Mondujar treasure in Madrid's National Archaeological Museum (51033) or the dismantled set in New York's Metropolitan Museum (17.190.161a-j). The immigration of Jewish goldsmiths from Spain to North Africa, mainly at the time of the Reconquista, enabled this transfer of models and techniques, including cloisonné enamel and filigree. The tubular shape of these beads, which can be dismantled like a small box, also demonstrates cultural continuity, following in the tradition of talismanic boxes common to Jewish, Muslim and even some ancient civilizations, which played a protective role thanks to the religious formulas they contained. In Nasrid and later Moroccan jewelry, this prophylactic role was abandoned in favor of a purely ornamental function. Few examples of Nasrid enameled qannuta have survived. A piece in the Hispanic Society of America in New York (R3402) is attributed to Spanish work from the first quarter of the 16th century, while the qannuta in the MET necklace mentioned above are attributed to the late 15th or early 16th century. Later Moroccan pieces like this one, which show a real assimilation of ancestral techniques, are more common. We could mention a qannuta from the Institut du Monde Arabe attributed to Tétouan in the 18th century, as well as two others on a still-complete necklace in London's Victoria and Albert Museum (607:1, 2-1902). Bibliography GONZALEZ, Valérie, Emaux d'al-Andalus et du Maghreb, Edisud, Aix-en-Provence: 1994, pp. 128, 129, 180, 189, 190. RABATE Marie-Rose, GOLDENBERG, André, Bijoux du Maroc, Edisud, Aix-en-Provence: 1999, p.212.