Title: Pair of Earrings
Date: 11th century AD
Location: Egypt or Syria
Materials: gold sheet, wire and granulation
Dimensions: 3.3cm; 3.2cm (width)
Accession Number: JLY 1725
Other Notes:
These earrings have been assembled from various prefabricated components: rope-and-grain filigree panels for the front, back and side wall; powder-granulated domes on the front; and openwork filigree domes along the side. Loops, possibly for strings of pearls, are attached to the plain sheet border at the front and the back. The openwork filigree panels are reinforced with randomly-placed tie-bars. The granulation is flooded with solder, as is typical of much mediaeval Islamic rope-and-grain filigree.
The original split-bolt ear wire attachments remain, but the ear wires are probably modern replacements.
Bibliography:
M. Spink and J. Ogden, The Art of Adornment. Jewellery of the Islamic World, Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume XVII, Part One, London 2013, cat.48, pp.142–3.
J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection, London 2010, cat.74, pp.82–3.
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