Cordiform Pendant

Cordiform Pendant

Figural ornament is rare in Islamic art and plays an equally subordinate role in Turkmen jewelry and decorative arts. Exceptions are rams’ heads and horns (no. 2011.584.4) and bird forms (no. 2015.648.12a, .b), animals linked to the Turco-Mongol system of beliefs. This small pendant, perhaps for a child, is decorated on both sides with an astonishing range of motifs. Although in Islamic art every surface, whether visible or not, tends to be embellished, double-sided pieces are rare in the case of Turkmen ornament: the Wolf collection features only four such pieces (in addition to this example, see nos. 2014.714.2, 2006.544.2, and 2009.530.1). In this pendant, which could be worn to show either side, the two surfaces have distinct decorative programs.

The design of Surface A is centered on a carnelian set within a lobed frame ending in a trefoil or palmette. The border of flamelike arabesques is a more abstract version of the narrow gold interlace of no. 2006.544.1. What appear to be spearlike forms are actually reciprocal trefoil shapes, and the cylinder bears a stripe pattern similar to that on no. 2013.968.1 (see also no. 2008.579.6). Surface B presents a remarkable compendium of amuletic forms grouped around a central carnelian, all protective symbols of courage or martial prowess expected of boys: swords, daggers, bows, birds and snakes, and, at the center, what appears to be a scorpion or crab, a motif known from Turkmen pile carpets.[14] Three triangles with split-palmette vegetal ornament are displayed to the sides of and below the central stone, the lower one serving as a base for two winged mythical beasts.

Such animals are a common feature of ancient Iranian and Islamic art and take the form of the senmurv[15] and unicorn, but the beasts in this example are clearly drawn from ancient Near Eastern representations of a winged bull, leading to the suggestion that this imagery, foreign to the Turkmen, was reproduced from some graphic source. This hypothesis is reinforced by the samplerlike quality of the design, which shows no visual connection between the elements. Although some would see the introduction of new motifs as evidence that the piece was of mid-to late twentieth-century manufacture for the trade,[16] such a development may also be traced back to the late nineteenth century, when the region came under Russian cultural influence. During that time, intrepid collectors such as Henri Moser were making their way to Central Asia, Russian experts were gathering works for museums in their capital city, and Orientalist publications on Islamic art and design may have been available locally, as was the case with the Mamluk revival style in Egypt. Nineteenth-century design books often reproduced images of works of widely differing historical periods and styles grouped together solely for design purposes. Whatever its date of origin, the piece is intriguing and displays great charm and originality.

Layla S. Diba in [Diba 2011]

Footnotes:

14. Kalter, Johannes. The Arts and Crafts of Turkestan. New York, 1983, p. 158, fig. 180.

15. The senmurv is a composite creature taking the form of a winged dog covered in fish scales with lion’s paws and a plumed tail. See Harper, Prudence Oliver. The Royal Hunter: Art of the Sasanian Empire. Exh. cat., Asia House Gallery. New York, 1978, pp. 94–96.

16. In a letter to the author of September 25, 2007, Hermann Rudolph cites at least one other identical example in the Museum für Völkerkunde, Leipzig, from the collection of Dr. Umit Bir. There is a third example in the Wolf collection. A related cordiform pendant at the Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, with a motif of two riders is illustrated in Kalter 1983 (note 14), p. 100, fig. 83 bottom left.

Marshall and Marilyn R. Wolf, Toronto, Canada (by 2006–12; gifted to MMA)

Diba, Layla S. "Silver Ornaments from the Marshall and Marilyn R. Wolf Collection." In Turkmen Jewelry. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. no. 50, pp. 96–97, ill. (color).