Sent, 19^th century

In 1766 the city of Venice withdrew all non-Catholic merchants the right to do business. Many Engadine families who had established themselves there as confectioners, also had to leave the lagoon city. They took along a typical Venetian piece of jewellery: the «Moretto» or “Small Moor”. As «Morins» these earrings are today especially typical for Sent in the Lower Engadine where they have often been passed on in the families for generations.

The moor as jewellery motif is widespread in the Mediterranean region. In the wake of the «Black Lives Matter» movement of the passed years such representations – also in the form of the traditional Morins – are critically discussed.