Name of Object:

Pendant

Location:

London, England, United Kingdom

Holding Museum:

The British Museum

About The British Museum, London

Date of Object:

Hegira 5th / AD 11th century

Museum Inventory Number:

1981.7-7.2

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Gold with inset enamel.

Dimensions:

Width 2.1 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Fatimid

Provenance:

Egypt.

Description:

A gold crescent-shaped pendant with enamel work. Two bands of delicate gold filigree work surround a panel of cloisonné enamel with a symmetrical design of two birds arranged on either side of a tree. The pendant may have been hung with strings of pearls from the three loops along the bottom. The enamel inset imitates Byzantine designs. Gold jewellery from Byzantium was known in Fatimid Egypt originating either from Byzantine craftsmen who immigrated to Egypt or through diplomatic gifts sent by Byzantine rulers. In 1046 the Fatimid Caliph al-Mustansir (r.1036–94) received a large gift from the Emperor of Byzantium which included hundreds of gold vessels, brocade and gold-embroidered turbans. This exchange of diplomatic gifts is recorded in The Book of Treasures and Gifts, by Ibn Zubayr, written just before the destruction and dispersal of the Fatimid treasury in 1062.

Gold jewellery with delicate filigree work was popular during the Fatimid period. Some pieces, such as this pendant, also feature enamel work derived from Byzantine designs. The Fatimid treasury is known to have accumulated a vast hoard of gold objects that included jewellery.

How date and origin were established:

The pendant resembles other gold jewellery from the Fatimid era; generally small in size and often decorated with filigree work, cloisonné enamel, or niello. From the mid-11th century figurative elements began to appear, such as birds. The dating of Fatimid jewellery has been derived from excavations in a number of sites, including that at Fustat in Cairo.

How Object was obtained:

Purchased by the British Museum in 1981.

How provenance was established:

The Fatimids were renowned for their rich splendid jewellery. Most of the workmanship would have taken place in Egypt, the political centre of the Fatimid dynasty.

Selected bibliography:

Al-Hijjawi al-Qaddumi, G. (ed.), Book of Gifts and Rarities (Kitab al-hadaya wa al-tuhaf'): Selections compiled in the fifteenth century from an eleventh-century manuscript on gifts and treasures, Harvard University Press, 1996, pp.108–9.

Hasson, R., Early Islamic Jewellery, Jerusalem, 1987, pp.56–91.

Institut du Monde Arabe, Tresors fatimide du Caire, exposition presentée a l'Institute du monde Arabe du 28 avril au 30 aout 1998 (Paris, Institut du Monde Arabe, 1998), p.135 (a similar pendant to that held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).

Citation of this web page:

Emily Shovelton "Pendant" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus01;4;en

Prepared by: Emily ShoveltonEmily Shovelton

Emily Shovelton is a historian of Islamic art. She studied history of art at Edinburgh University before completing an MA in Islamic and Indian art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. Since graduating she has worked on a number of projects at the British Museum. Other recent work includes editing and writing for a digital database of architectural photographs at the British Library. She is currently working on a Ph.D. on “Sultanate Painting in 15th-century India and its relationship to Persian, Mamluk and Indian Painting”, to be completed at SOAS in 2006. A paper on Sultanate painting given at the Conference of European Association of South Asian Archaeologists, held in the British Museum in July 2005, is due to be published next year.
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: UK1 06