Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Gold Ensemble for the Head or Neck
Not on view
This gold jewelry hints at the wealth of the inhabitants of Ascalon, a port south of Jerusalem. The city was no backwater, but rather a thriving link to Cairo and the mercantile world beyond. Known as mushabbak (latticework) in contemporary documents, the technique used here is associated with Islamic art but also corresponds to descriptions of jewels in the trousseaux of Jewish brides. The expression of refined taste was limited only by means, not by religious tradition.
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