Amulet Case

Silver Amulet Case

This cast amulet case is one of the few early medieval Iranian objects in the Museum's jewelry collection executed in silver. The scene on both sides (and its less complete version on the two removable end pieces) of a ruler, drinking and seated cross-legged on a throne with zoomorphic legs, flanked by vases or carafes, and with two birds beneath his throne, is typical for Persian iconography of the period. The style of the Kufic inscription that frames both scenes also conforms to such an attribution.

Gilded and bearing niello inlay, this is one of the few early medieval amulet cases preserved in public collections. There are six other extant examples with niello inlay.[1] This amulet case has the unique feature of a hinged opening as opposed to a sleeve opening held in place by friction. The purpose of this feature is generally thought to be for the insertion of a written charm, such as verses from the Koran. However, the presence in at least one case of cotton wool inside the amulet suggests that one of its functions may have been to contain scent. We know of scented necklaces in the ninth century from a passage in paragraph twenty-two of the "Chapter of the Gifts" in Al-Qadi al-Rashid ibn Zubayr's Book of Treasures and Gifts.

[Jenkins and Keene 1983]

Footnotes:

1. Pinder-Wilson, R. H. "A Silver Ladle and Amulet Case from Persia." British Museum Quarterly 25, 1962, 1-2, pp. 32–34.

[ Yahooda S. Shenass, New York, until 1978; sold to MMA]

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Islamic Jewelry in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 22–August 14, 1983, no. 35.

Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn, and Manuel Keene. Islamic Jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983. no. 35, p. 66, ill. (b/w).