Vintage silver temporal adornment, possibly made by the Akhsass tribe of the Anti-Atlas, Morocco. The silver is high-grade and the two circular pendants are patterned with niello. The surfaces of the pendants are highly polished. Each of them has smaller traditional niello dangling pendants. These would have been worn either side of a woman’s head attached to a headband which crosses the head to support the weight. Sometimes they were attached to large hoops with amber, coral and other precious stones which made them appear even more impressive. During their lifetime threads have been tied to the dangles so that no part gets damaged, separated or lost.

References:

Grammet, I. and Meersman, M. (1998). Splendeurs du Maroc. Tervuren (Belgique): Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale, p.258, 271

Draguet, M. and Merode, N., 2020. Berber Memories. Yale University Press, p287