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Jack Ogden, Mark Kramarovsky, Michael Rogers and Pedro
Moura Carvalho
The magnificent holdings of Islamic jewellery in the Khalili Collection
are comprehensive in a way which cannot be claimed for any other
published collection. A separate volume has been devoted to the
618 rings in the Collection, and another to enamelled jewellery
from Mughal India. This volume includes virtually every other form
of personal adornment - earrings, bracelets, amulets, necklaces,
headdresses, hairpins, buttons, and belt fittings. The pieces date
from the 7th to the 19th centuries, and are mostly from Iran, Syria,
Egypt and Afghanistan, but there are also examples from Ottoman
Turkey and the Maghrib.
The Collection includes an impressive group of bracelets, and the
sheer number has allowed a typological study tracing the development
of the form over a long period and across a wide geographical area.
The Collection is especially rich in gold jewellery of the Saljuq
and Fatimid periods, and the large group of exceptionally fine Fatimid
goldwork exemplifies the extraordinary openwork filigree and granulation
produced by goldsmiths in 11th- and 12th-century Egypt and Syria.
The group includes rings, bracelets, earrings and beads, and the
detailed study of the items has permitted a fuller understanding
of Islamic goldwork and its place in the medieval world. A few are
decorated with enamels, and these include a remarkable bracelet
with linked enamelled medallions.
Later rarities include Ilkhanid and Timurid dress and belt ornaments
which have hitherto been familiar only from manuscript illustrations.
Essays include a technical study of Islamic gold filigree work;
'spiral' filigree of the 14th century; and Golden Horde jewellery.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Dr Mark G. Kramarovsky, of The State Hermitage, St Petersburg,
has carried out several excavations in the Crimea and has written
extensively on the decorative arts of the Golden Horde.
Dr Jack Ogden is Chief Executive, National Association of Goldsmiths,
and an expert on ancient jewellery.
DETAILS
(to be published)
fully illustrated in colour; numerous line drawings; section on
inscriptions with translations
35.5 x 25.5 cm
hardback with dust jacket (slipcased)
£89 $180
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