Earring, One of a Pair

Pair of Gold Earrings

This pair of gold earrings (39.157.1, .2), whose cross section (bulging at the center and tapering to a point at the edges) is reminiscent of a type of twelfth-century Kievan earring (e.g., MMA 17.190.679, .680, .699, .707), belongs to a rare group of which only one other pair and a single earring, both in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad, are known.[1] Fortunately, the provenance of these three earrings is known, all having been found in Mesopotamia; so perhaps we are safe in assuming that Iraq is the country of origin of this pair.

Another indication of Iraqi origin is a second pair of earrings in the Museum's collection (MMA 95.16.2, .3) that, according to the dealer from whom they were purchased in 1895, were found in al-Hillah, Iraq. Although these are constructed of sheet decorated with wire, they share with the present pair their overall outline including the peculiar truncated six-point star motif, with its setting cup on the obverse.this pair.

[Jenkins and Keene 1983]

Footnotes:

1. 'Umar al-'Ali, Z. "Islamic Jewelry Acquired by the Iraq Museum," in Arabic. Sumer 30 (1974), 681–94, fig. 8.

[ Elias S. David, New York, until 1939; sold to MMA]

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Islamic Jewelry in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 22–August 14, 1983, no. 46.

Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn, and Manuel Keene. Islamic Jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983. no. 46, pp. 79–80, ill. p. 79 (b/w).