Jewish Bridal Belt

An interesting appraisal that came across my desk. It is estimated that a group of wealthy Jews immigrated to Yemen in approximately 629 BCE. There relationship with the Arab world, and their traditions are different then any other Jews in the rest of the world. The Yemenite Jews faced times of equality with the rulers of Yemen as well as times of oppression. There are still Yemenite Jews today although the populace is much smaller then it was prior to the formation of the State of Israel and the Jewish immigration of the 1950's. The Yemenite Jews passed along some of their arts and crafts to the Israeli Jews but many of the Yemenite traditions have been lost over time. The Yemenite Jews were unique in that they manufactured and crafted their jewelry and religious artifacts themselves and often times from raw materials they themselves made. The Yemenite Jews were the leaders in the arts and crafts industry. Almost all jewelry in Yemen was made by Jewish artisans. It was against several Muslim rules for the Jewish people to have better items then their Muslim counterparts. Therefore the Jewish people of Yemen adopted a look a faux poverty. The exception to this was in the elaborate jewelry worn by Jewish women. Since the Jewish people were the ones making the jewelry they made exceptional pieces for themselves particularly bridal jewelry.

The item being appraised was a Jewish bridal belt possibly from Yemen. Circa late 1800's. It was common for the Yemenite Jews to make jewelry out of silver with gilt accents. I would suspect this is made of silver with gilt accents, but it is difficult to tell without seeing the item in person. Yemenite Jews were plainly dressed with the exception of brides and new mothers. Both women were allowed to wear exceptional jewelry on those occasions. The Yemenite Jews were exceptional craftsmen as evidenced by the surviving 19th century jewelry. This belt is elaborate in both craftsmanship and design. The bridal belt is exchanged with the groom on the eve of the wedding signifying the bride and grooms lives being tied together. These belts were generally elaborate pieces of jewelry and were sometimes loaned out by synagogues to a bride who could not afford her own. I was able to locate only four other bridal belts in my research and could not find auction results for any comparable pieces. My price estimate is based on auction results for other Judaic artifacts. I would not be at all surprised to see auction results
* Current Fair Market Value: $1,500.00
* Replacement Cost: $3,000.00