The Indiana University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology holds an important collection of Yemeni silver jewelry and costumes that will bolster its Middle Eastern holdings—the David and Marjorie Ransom Collection.
David and Marjorie Ransom Collection of Yemeni Jewelry
The entire Ransom collection contains over 2,000 works from the Middle East and features artifacts from Bedouin and tribal people of Yemen, as well as examples of finely crafted urban jewelry. The gift to the museum consists of over 400 items.
Mrs. Ransom spent time in Yemen focusing on the work of traditional silversmiths, traveling to remote Yemeni regions to interview more than 40 silversmiths and their families, and later interviewing Yemeni immigrants in Israel and Brooklyn.
Much of the research focuses on the role of jewelry in the marriage contract and as a sign of wealth and security for women in Yemen. A book written by Mrs. Ransom concerning this collection—Silver Treasures from the Land of Sheba: Regional Yemeni Jewelry—dives deep into traditional silversmithing in the different regions of Yemen and details the specific cultural context of when and how the jewelry would be worn.