Pendant

Tin Pendant

Highly interesting in terms of material, epigraphy, and decoration, this small pendant has at different times been thought to be bronze or silver, and has been dated from the pre-Islamic period in Egypt to the thirteenth century. That it is tin was proved by X-ray fluorescence tests made in the Metropolitan's conservation research lab; and that it is ninth-century Egyptian has been ascertained by epigraphic and decorative comparisons with an extensive series of dated Egyptian pieces, most notably funerary stelae and woodwork now in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo.

An epigraphic feature popular in ninth-century stelae is the nonfunctional arch (here gabled) in the middle of the word "Allah" at the center of the pendant. A sample survey of the many volumes devoted to the extensive series of similar stelae in the Museum of Islamic Art [1] yields a great many parallels to our inscription. The closest parallels are to inscriptions of the first half of the ninth century; those of the late ninth and early tenth centuries depart increasingly from the form seen here. Particularly close is an inscription on a tombstone dated A.D. 844 [2]which has not only the arch usually present but also arches in the vertical shafts similar to those in our example. Another tombstone inscription with arches in the vertical shafts is dated A.D. 820.[3] Further confirmation of the date are the many ninth-century parallels with the palmettes on the reverse of the pendant.

The phrase "And God will suffice you against them [the unbelievers]," from chapter 2, verse 137 of the Koran, forms a border on the obverse. Otherwise unknown on pendants, this inscription probably served a talismanic function, as did certain popular inscriptions on pendants and amulets throughout Islamic history. For reasons not altogether clear this phrase seems almost invariably to have been used as a border on other decorative objects, the letters modified to assume the form desired by the artist. The closest parallels to the border on this pendant are on a pair of ninth-century wood panels in the Museum of Islamic Art.[4]

A peculiarity of the inscription on this pendant that makes it particularly difficult to read (aside from the confusion of line with mass) is that it is written in mirror reverse, a practice normally seen only on seals.

[Jenkins and Keene 1983]

Footnotes:

1. Hawary, H.; Rached, H.; and Wiet, G. Catalogue général du Musée Arab du Caire: steles funéraires, vols. 4. 7, 9–16. Cairo, 1932–42.

2. Ibid., vol. 1, pl. XLV, no. 1268.

3. Ibid., pl. XV, no. 1506/581.

4. David-Weill, Jean. Les bois a épigraphes jusqu’a l'époque mamlouke. Cairo, 1931, pl. I, nos. 6852, 6854.

[ Nicolas Tano, Cairo, until 1912; sold to MMA]

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Islamic Jewelry in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 22–August 14, 1983, no.6.

Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn, and Manuel Keene. Islamic Jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983. no. 6, p. 24, ill. (b/w).