An extremely rare and very important antique Turkoman / Turkmen talismanic silver jewellery known as ok-yoy. Attributed to the Ersari Tribe, this particular example is one of the earliest out there and likely dates as early as mid 19th century (or possibly older). The ok-yoy is a talismanic silver piece that would be attached on the garment of the young boys. If you look at the photo of it turned 90 degrees, you will see that it resembles a bow and arrow, which is exactly what it is supposed to represent. Rooted to pre-Islamic shamanistic culture of the Turkoman, they had a tradition of shooting arrows at the sky at the sight of lightening which was assumed to be sign of good luck and protection. One often sees elaborate Yomut examples with gilding and carnelian and glass in lay. But those examples often date much later. The really older examples as this resemble the actual bow and arrow while later examples are caricature of the motif. Notice the twisting patterns of the rope part, detail on the arrow and the lovely patterns of the bow. It is just magnificent. This museum grade piece made of good quality silver and is worthy of any world class collection and better than most published examples (see two images from Schletzer book Old Silver Jewelry of Turkestan both of which are younger than this offering). It has lovely tassels. It has natural age patina and the condition would be considered very good for the age of the piece. a real work of ethnic jewellery art offered at a fair price. Size 12cm x 11cm (5” x 4.5”). Weight 40 grams. For inquiries please email directly to: istalificollections@outlook.com.