Best known for their carpets and textiles, the nomadic Turkmen people of Central Asia have also long distinguished themselves as the makers of extraordinary silver jewelry. This book presents more than two hundred examples of Turkmen jewelry, created in the nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries, from the renowned collection of Marshall and Marilyn R. Wolf.
These remarkable objects—crowns and headbands, armbands and rings, necklets and amulet holders—are characterized by graceful forms, bold geometry, delicate openwork, and often enormous scale. Working with a limited set of materials (silver accented by gold, carnelian, turquoise, and colored glass) and relatively simple techniques, Turkmen silversmiths used great ingenuity to achieve their dazzling effects.
This book, the first publication in the United States devoted to Turkmen jewelry, highlights the aesthetic aspects of these objects, which until recently were valued primarily for their ethnographic significance. Layla S. Diba situates Turkmen ornament within both its historical context and the tradition of Islamic jewelry production. By taking an art historical approach and provided detailed formal analysis of the objects, supplemented by gorgeous color photographs, this publication broadens the appreciation of these vibrant, monumental pieces, elevating them from folk art to fine art.
Director's Foreword
Preface and Acknowledgments
Note to the Reader
Introduction
Stefano Carboni
Map of Central Asia
Turkmen Jewelry: A Tradition Rediscovered
Layla S. Diba
Techniques of Turkmen and Central Asian Jewelry
Jean-François de Lapérous
Catalogue of the Marshall and Marilyn R. Wolf Collection
Layla S. Diba
Crowns and Headdress Ornaments
Dorsal Ornaments
Torso and Pectoral Ornaments
Armbands and Rings
Clothing and Objects
Notes
Glossary
Works Cited
Index
Photography Credits
Layla S. Diba, an independent curator of Islamic art, was formerly Director of the Negarestan Museum, Tehran, and Hagop Kevorkian Curator of Islamic Art at the Brooklyn Museum.
Jean-François de Lapérouse is Conservator in the Department of Objects Conservation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Stefano Carboni, former Curator and Administrator in the Department of Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is Director of the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth.
