Earrings

Pair of Gold Earrings

This pair of earrings appears to stand completely alone among extant early medieval jewelry. At first glance they seem to fit very neatly into a Fatimid Egyptian context, the shape and layout of the hilal, or crescent-shape, filigree, box-constructed earrings being typically Fatimid. But the method of construction employed in forming the filigree hemispheres on the obverse and reverse is totally unknown on other Islamic jewelry, and the enamels (found here uniquely on both the obverse and reverse) are closer to those from southern Russia than to those from Egypt.[1] Even the hemispheres on the edge, which initially appear to be identical to those on earrings nos. 52.4.5, .6 and 52.4.7, .8 and on bracelet no. 1976.151, exhibit a variation. Here, the extra circle is very large so that the resulting three-petal leaf is top-heavy.

[Jenkins and Keene 1983]

Footnotes:

1. Korzukhina, G. F. Russkie Kindy IX–Xlllvv. Moscow, 1954, XLIV.


Pair of Earrings

These earrings are an anomaly among extant early medieval jewelry. While their crescent shape, layout, and box construction are typically Fatimid, the basic vocabulary associated with such jewelry is completely lacking. The method of construction employed in forming the filigree hemispheres is unknown on other Islamic jewelry; gold is not used as sparingly as on most Fatimif jewelry,[1] neither the ubiquitous rings for stringing pearls and semiprecious stones nor the typical strip support for filigree decoration is to be found; and the S curves, while present, are of flattened twisted wires and not of the usual flattened plain wires. Furthermore, the designs on the enamels are closer to those from southern Rus' than to those from Egypt, and the enamels are found on both the front and the back, a common occurrence on such ornaments produced in the Byzantine world but unique to Fatimid enameled jewelry. And while the green and red enamels are similar to those found on a crescent-shaped pendant in the Metropolitan Museum (no. 30.95.37), the white and blue enamels have compositions more consistent with what is known of ancient Roman glass-making technology of a type thought to have gone out of use about the fourth century A.D. This would indicate the reuse of Roman glass for enameling purposes more than seven hundred years later. We thus have a pair of earrings that incorporates both Roman-type and Islamic-type enamels, a combination known to have been found among Byzantine enameled objects.[2]

Because similar enamels have been found in southern Rus'; because the method of incorporating the enamel cup is not known on other Fatimid jewelry; because compositionally the enamels are both the Roman and the Islamic types; and finally, because correlations exist with a pair of earrings from Kiev in the Metropolitan Museum (nos. 17.190.2051, .2052), we would suggest placing the present earrings in Byzantium's neighboring state Kievan Rus'.

[Evans and Wixom 1997]

Footnotes:

1. This observation was made by Jean-Francois DeLaperouse, Department of Objects Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

2. Mark Wypyski, Department of Objects Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, has also noted, with regard to Limoges enameled pieces, that Roman- and Islamic-type enamels are used on the same object, and he believes that the presence of the Roman-type enamel on the earrings may be evidence for a Byzantine rather than an Islamic origin.

[ McDougall Palmer Ltd., London, by 1978–79; sold to MMA]

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Islamic Jewelry in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 22–August 14, 1983, no. 43.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Glory of Byzantium," March 11–July 6, 1997, no. 210.

Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn, and Manuel Keene. Islamic Jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983. no. 43, p. 76, ill. (b/w).

Evans, Helen, and William D. Wixom, ed. "Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era A.D. 843–1261." In The Glory of Byzantium. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. no. 210, p. 308, ill. (color).