Is a choker slave jewelry?

At the moment ‘slavery’ and the role The Netherlands played in bringing people from Africa to the Americas and selling them there, is again in the spotlight and subject to research. there is a huge ‘slavery’ exhibition in the largest museum in The Netherlands to make people aware of what happened in those days. That gives me thought to find out whether the choker and the ‘slave’ bracelet originate from the slaves.

‘Is a choker the follow-up from a slave collar?’ For quite some time I wonder whether this is true or not. A choker is a close-fitting necklace around the neck. And without too much imagination you see in a slave collar the same item. Although the choker and a slave collar have a totally different purposes. When I started my search to find the answer I came upon some remarkable facts.

Enough reasons to find out whether some popular pieces of jewelry originate from the slaves and the slave jewelry.

Slave jewelry

I would like to start with a disclaimer. I use the term ‘slave jewelry’ in this blog to give the necklace and bracelets, that slaves were forced to wear to control them, a name.

Jewelry should make you beautiful and not a slave. Jewelry should be worn voluntarily, and not forced. Jewelry should earn you compliments and not orders.

The term ‘slave jewelry’ is chosen to make a connection (if there is any. That we will have to find out in this blog) between the necklace the slave got around his neck and the piece of jewelry, we called ‘choker’ today. And the connection between the band around the wrist of a slave to control him or her, and the jewel we now call the ‘slave bracelet’.

And Pharoah Nefertiti and the lady of the Long Neck people in Northern Thailand wear their chokers voluntarily. In the Egypt of Pharaoh Nefertiti, a piece of neck jewelry she is wearing was trendy or fashionable. And there is no trace of evidence that this type of jewelry has anything to do with slaves' slave jewelry (as there was in Egypt at the time).

The same goes for the lady of the Long Neck tribe. From her 6th or 7th birthday, she gets every time when it is possible an extra copper collar, in order to strengthen her neck. It is fashion there, for ages. They cannot get them off, because then their spine will collapse and they will die.

The choker

Let us start with finding out whether the choker has some connections with a slave collar or not.

A little history

Around 2500 BC Sumerian artists, living in Mesopotamia (the country between the Eufrat and the Tigris, now Iraq), designed and produced golden choker necklaces. So this type of jewelry was available in one of the oldest civilizations of this world. The popularity of these jewels passed over to Egypt, where they are made from gold, combined with lapis lazuli. It was said in Egypt that these necklaces brought special powers and protected you.

Then in the first century AD, these types of necklaces were still worn, according to the Talmud, where they were mentioned as a ladies’ accessory in the book Shabbat.

A symbol of protest.

There is a portrait of Anne Boleyn?(1507-1536) with a beautiful piece of jewelry around her neck made of pearls and a letter ‘B’ (of Boleyn) pendant. It does not protect her from being beheaded. During the French Revolution in 1798, many people face the guillotine, and female French expatriates in England start to wear a red ribbon around their necks. As a protest against the guillotine sentences.

Much older than the slave collar.

In Ancient Times (around 2500 BC) the Pharaos and the common people in Egypt wear tight bands around their necks. Made of lapis lazuli, pearls, and gold or just a nice red ribbon from the market. People wear them to protect the most vulnerable part of their body, the neck, from evil, bad powers, and attacks. Just to make sure it works they hang little amulets or charms representing the gods they need the most on the choker.

There is slavery in Egypt at that time and on murals, you see the slaves tied together with ropes. But no separate slave collar.

Prostitutes and royals.

In a painting of Manet, you see a prostitute wearing a ribbon around her neck and that seems a custom piece of jewelry for those ladies. But in the 19th century also royals like Queen Victoria and?Princess Alexandra of Wales?wear one. The latter is because she wants to hide a little scar on her neck and this type of necklace does the trick.

The result is that this type of jewelry becomes fashionable. It’s not only a ribbon around your neck. But it is decorated with diamonds, pearls, golden beads, and a lot of gemstones.

Russian royalty wears a ‘dog collar’.

In the late 19th century Tsarina Maria and Alexandra Fjodorovna have a so-called ‘dog collar’ (collier du Chien) in their jewelry collection. For daily wear, these pieces of jewelry are made of fine silver or gold chains with highly decorated clasps. Under those chains are ribbons of silk or velvet. But for the parties, they wear chokers of diamonds, pearls, and gemstones, combined with a necklace that is attached under it. That necklace hangs down on the breast.

Again popular in the 1990s.

Actually, the choker never leaves the fashion world. In the 1950s they are made of lace and velvet. In the 1990s the ‘tattoo’ choker becomes popular, made of plastic, and has a ‘netted’ design. And also nowadays the choker stays in fashion and many celebrities love to wear it to their VIP parties.

Tiffany and Co and a slave collar.

In September 2016 a scandal starts around Tiffany’s and a piece of jewelry exhibited in the Lest We Forget Slavery Museum in Philadelphia. The piece is a silver chain choker with a heart pendant. That particular piece of jewelry, according to the information on the tag is a design of Tiffanys and inspired by a slave collar. The brass collar that a female slave wears when she works for the mistress of the master.

Tiffany denies the accusation and the museum removes the tag. It proves that the design of the choker is still a precarious subject.

Conclusion:

Although the design of the choker looks like a?slavery?collar the choker or the design is more than 5000 years old. So the slave collar cannot be the origin of the choker. The popularity is steady for a long time although it drops between the 10th?and the 16th?century. And in this period slavery occurs. The choker stays popular also today. Just make sure that the choker sits perfectly and is not too tight. Otherwise, you look choked and that is not what you want. Then it looks too much like a slave collar.

A choker looks great when you have a longer neck and you want it to look a bit shorter. A statement necklace makes a woman a lot of times more beautiful. Do you know when? Do you know that the length of your necklace is important? If it’s too short it looks like you are getting choked.

You have only 3 seconds to make a great first impression. Since people look at your face first, your necklace should be stunning and exactly made for you.

It is not so easy to know what necklace makes you look fabulous. Therefore?FlorenceJewelshop?published an e-book to help you out. All the questions stated above and much more, including a lot of tips, can be found in that e-book. Ask for it! It is?free of charge. Just use this download link https://florencejewelshop.com/right-necklace-lp/

Florence from FlorenceJewelshop