Ring11th-12th century

On view:

Geffen Galleries, Islamic Art and Late Antiquity

Title: Ring
Place Made: Iran
Date Made: 11th-12th century
Medium: Gold, fabricated from sheet and set with turquoise stone
Dimensions: Height: 1 3/8 in. (3.49 cm)
Credit Line: The Madina Collection of Islamic Art, gift of Camilla Chandler Frost
Accession Number: M.2002.1.560
Classification: Jewelry and Adornments
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes: Much of what is known about personal adornment from the medieval Islamic world is based on jewelry, since textiles deteriorate quickly and few complete garments have survived. While gold jewelry is also rare, as it was frequently melted down, extant pieces like this ring set with a turquoise stone provide an idea of the types of fashions available in eleventh-century Iran. During this period, stones were often chosen more for their color than their preciousness. The type of robin’s-egg blue turquoise used here was likely mined in Iran.

2024
Selected Bibliography: Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015.
Komaroff, Linda. Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016.

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