Know your Goddesses from your Gods.

An unplanned, spur of the moment, solo run this afternoon, on the way to visit my Dad. Gareth shied off detecting as he had to get tyres for his babe magnet 'Samantha', a bright yellow sports car, which apparently really is a babe magnet. Must remember to paint the Rav.
So I set off towards my Dads not really intending to search at all. But after spotting a remote bark playground in Taupaki it took little contemplation to know I couldn't resist having a butchers. It was a lovely day, almost too hot, the New Zealand cricketers were taking England apart in Dunedin and I was enjoying listening to the radio commentary. Lunch was due to be taken and after listening to the last of the mornings overs in the car park I alighted the Rav4 and stepped on to the playground.
A young mother was pushing a happy chuckling little red cheeked man on the swing and after a wee chat with her, explaining my business, I began to swing myself. I think I impressed her with my first target 30 seconds in, a $1 coin which was the first of eleven coins I discovered in the small park. I always seem to strike early then fade away but this time it was a constant stream of good targets. Total spending found was $3.10 in the 40 minutes I was there.

In between coins I plucked a small bracelet. My myopic eyes, ever keen, saw a stamp saying stainless steel. Which I thought odd even though it was silver it didn't look too stainless. So I tucked it in my finds pocket. It was only when I returned to the car and put on my specs that I saw it was marked Siam Sterling .925. Which along with New Zealand's continuing cricketing heroics gave me a good buzz.

The whole blurred bracelet

The different links on the bracelet featured what I took to be some Hindu deity, Shiva came to my mind.
When arriving at my Fathers I got out the magnifying glass and studied it closer. I realised it was a nice find. I googled Siam Silver and found exactly the same design on necklaces, earrings, belt buckles and all manner of things big and small not just jewellery.


The bracelet is in fact Nielloware, a technique first used it is thought, in the 4th century in Egypt. 

Siam Silver Nekkala Goddess sans bodice

The term Niello refers to a method of decorating metal objects using engraving techniques. In this technique silver is rubbed into an indented pattern and then fired. When the object is polished, darkened areas remain for a decorative effect. This technique is often used in Siam Sterling Jewellery and it seems there is a whole collecting area of vintage jewelry referred to as Siam Sterling Nielloware.
This design displays Nekkala, the Goddess of Lightning from the Hindu
legend Ramayana, (nothing at all to do with Shiva, the Destroyer, who apparently is a male deity anyway). The term 'Siam' was used on these items from the early 1930's  well into  the 1980's so it is difficult to tell how old it is. No idea of value either.

So there you are. Lessons in Nielloware jewellery and Hindu deities. It is amazing where metal detecting can take one. One minute cruising around a park in Taupaki, the next investigating 1600 year old jewellery techniques from Egypt, then off to Thailand (Siam) then back to Dunedin to hear rain stopped play. It's quite a hectic life I lead :)


Above is the complete haul from the park including a iron ring with just one thread inside it, about 2kg's of nails, a few bolts, screws, a washer and a small rusty key.
A good days work.
See you out there.