Name of Object:

‘Eye of envy’ amulet

Location:

Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

Holding Museum:

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums

About Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums, Glasgow

Date of Object:

Hegira, late 13th–early 14th century / AD late 19th–early 20th century

Museum Inventory Number:

1912.6.h.1

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Moulded, coloured glass.

Dimensions:

Diameter 2 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Hebron, Palestine.

Description:

A blue 'eye of envy' made of a moulded, blue glass disc decorated with a series of diminishing circles of yellow, then white, with a black spot at the centre. Probably a bead from a string of other similar beads, it has a hole though the side for threading. This type of glass 'eye' might also have been sewn on to garments and headdresses.

Within Islamic popular belief blue eyes are thought to be envious eyes; the eye of envy is worn to repel such negative power by reflecting back to the perpetrator their own envy, thereby protecting the wearer from the effects of jealousy, thought to cause illness or disaster.

Such eyes can be crudely made like this bead, or can be drawn with accuracy and quality of craftsmanship, as found in jewellery made of gold or silver; the quality does not affect the protective power. Plain blue beads are also thought to play a similar protective role, and are sometimes used in place of an eye of envy.

In popular Middle Eastern Islamic belief blue eyes are thought to be both envious and to have the ability to repel envy. This blue glass eye is worn to protect the bearer from the effects of jealousy, which may cause the loss of what is being envied or illness or disaster.

How date and origin were established:

Stylistic analysis: many similar examples in method of manufacture, size and colour exist, which have been dated to the Ottoman period and attributed in provenance to Hebron in Palestine.

How Object was obtained:

Purchased by the Museum in 1912.

How provenance was established:

Many similar examples exist attributed in provenance to Hebron in Palestine.

Selected bibliography:

Weir, S., Palestinian Costume, London, 1989.

Budge, Sir, E. A. Wallis, Amulets and Superstitions, London, 1930.

Citation of this web page:

Noorah Al-Gailani "‘Eye of envy’ amulet" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus04;42;en

Prepared by: Noorah Al-GailaniNoorah Al-Gailani

Noorah Al-Gailani is Curator for Islamic Civilisations at Glasgow Museums, Scotland. With a BA in Interior Design from the College of Fine Arts, Baghdad University and three years' experience in design and folk art preservation, she moved to the UK in 1992. On completing her MA in Museum Studies at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London in 1994, she worked as Project Officer at the Grange Museum of Community History documenting the presence of Muslim communities in the London Borough of Brent. In 1995 she was Assistant Curator, Ancient Monuments Laboratory, English Heritage, and in 1996 became Curator for John Wesley's House and the Museum of Methodism in London. She co-authored The Islamic Year: Surahs, Stories and Celebrations (Stroud: Hawthorn Press, 2002) for non-Muslim children. Since 2003 she has been based at The Burrell Collection in Glasgow, working across the city's museums to interpret Islamic art and culture, ancient and modern, through research, exhibitions and educational activities.
Copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: UK4 47