Mussy Duck

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Mussy Duck

Edition: 6/100
2016
Jewelry and Adornments
Sterling silver with various coatings (gold plated, oxidized silver, powder coated)
1 1/8 × 7/8 × 1 5/16 in. (2.8 × 2.3 × 3.3 cm), 27g
Purchased with funds provided by Homeira Goldstein (M.2017.246.1-.5)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

...
These rings by Koushna Navabi are small yet detailed busts of Mohammad Mossadeq, Iran’s prime minister from 1951 to 1953. In 1952 Mossadeq, a staunch nationalist, ended the British oil concession in Iran, which triggered a confrontation that would lead to his overthrow the following year by a British-and-American-led coup. In contrast with large-scale public monuments, Navabi’s rings function as a personal and portable form of adoration.
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Bibliography

  • Komaroff, Linda. In the Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: DelMonico Books-Prestel, 2018.