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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Any Jewelry, post: 8092106, member: 2844&quot;]Your item is certainly native North African. It is Berber/Amazigh. The Tuareg are part of the larger Amazigh nation, they are the ones who fled deeper into the Sahara when the Arabs invaded North Africa.</p><p><br /></p><p>The double gate symbol is called the &#039;gates of paradise&#039;. It is seen a lot on Algerian jewellery.</p><p>The gates have typical horseshoe arches. Horseshoe arches are of Visigoth origin, and came to North Africa from Spain, which was Moorish for a while. The Visigoths were the Western Goths, a Germanic people that lived mostly in southwestern Europe.</p><p>After the Spanish &#039;Reconquista&#039;, many Spanish &#039;Moors&#039; fled to Western North Africa, and hade a great influence on local culture.</p><p>In the North African sense Moors and Moorish mean a mix of Amazigh and Arab.</p><p><br /></p><p>The item you found online has all the characteristics of a Tuareg item. The staggered outlines, coloured triangular details, and undecorated studs all scream Tuareg to me.</p><p>But the style of your item is different, a different outline, with a more traditional horseshoe shape of the arches, more ornate details, and northern metalwork. So it looks to me like it was made further north, by someone from another Amazigh group.</p><p><br /></p><p>Not antique, but it is handmade, using some pre-made decorative elements.</p><p>The white decorations are likely camel bone. The metal is a brass-like base metal alloy, that is often used in North Africa. I have several Amazigh items of a similar rough-looking silvertone metal. Many people mistake it for low grade silver, which it isn&#039;t.</p><p><br /></p><p>I agree. And the wood hasn&#039;t aged, underneath the staining it looks pretty new.</p><p><br /></p><p>Traditional items are still made, both for local use and for export. That isn&#039;t faking, but continuing a tradition. I know I&#039;ve said that many times before, but I can&#039;t stress that enough.</p><p>I see similar items in North African shops here in Europe. Amazigh craftspeople have to make a living, and I am glad that so many are able to do that by making traditional and tradition-inspired items.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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