Podcast Bellamy
speech

The art of Islam has a long history and vivid character, especially the Islamic jewelry. The current paper based on grademiners review will describe the object of Islamic Art from two different perspectives, objective and subjective, attempting to give a full realistic picture of this precious historical heritage. I have chosen the jewelry from my own home for this purpose.

1. As it can be seen on the attached photo (Appendix 1), the object of current discussion is presented by the jewelry from Islamic art. The present set includes 2 pieces made in the similar style – the ring and the pendant. The size of the ring is approximately the following: width – 9-12 millimeters; diameter – 20 millimeters; depth – 3 millimeters. The approximate measurements of pendant: length – 35-40 millimeters; width – 35-40 millimeters; depth – 3 millimeters.

The form of ring is standard, wide, thickening to the center. The pendant shape is similar to rhombus or square, rotated by 45 degrees, with 7-pointed star engraved in the center. The jewelry is made of silver and is coated with gold gilding, having very pleasant shining yellowish color. Both items are covered with stones. The ring has 5 stones of circle and oval shape on the frontal part, with approximate diameter from 3 to 6 millimeters. The pendant has 1 major oval stone in the center (9-10 millimeters in diameter) and 7 minor oval stones around it (4-7 millimeters in diameter). The color of stones varies widely. The stones include bright blue turquoise, orange cornelian, dark-blue amethyst, golden topaz, dark greenstone, light-green olivine, ruby corundum, pink quartz, and white sapphire. The variety of stones makes this jewelry set very vivid and bright. The approximate period of its production is twelfth-fourteenth century. As for the origin of design, the set is related to late Fatimid period in Egypt, Syria, and Algeria, when decorative art was speedily developing. The present jewelry was manufactured in Arabic territory (Syria or present Saudi Arabia). The set belongs to the category of “art of fire”, resembling the Mamluk period, when many items of similar artworks entered the jewelry market.

1. The current jewelry presents not only the unique piece of historical and cultural value, but also the precious amulet of our family. This beautiful set belongs to our family for a long time already, dating back to several centuries ago.

Unfortunately, we can not exactly say now, when our family did get it. However, it is known that one of my great-grandfathers has given it to my great-grandmother as a wedding gift. She was wearing it on their wedding, and since then the jewelry is given from generation to generation as a family talisman. The objects are used as a usual jewelry – women of our family wear it regularly. The set does not belong to some particular person, thus any woman that belongs to our family can use it. My mother, my sisters, my grandmothers wear it. Of course, this jewelry is not used in everyday life.

Our women wear it only on special occasions – weddings, family and friends’ visits, special parties, tradition holidays, and other big events. When not used, the set is located in a safe place at home, where nobody else can reach it, – in a special jewelry box. As the value of this jewelry is really hard to imagine, we try to keep it very carefully in not visible location, out of reach of non-family members. The set is very pleasant to touch; the glossy metal does not feel cold, being rather warm. The stones are also very pleasant and smooth, and all of them are whole and not spoiled. When wearing this jewelry, it gives beautiful and elegant look to the woman. The set is so unique and precious, that it can make even a simple dress look luxury. As you can see, this unique jewelry has a long and interesting history, not only in the context of Islamic art in general, but from the viewpoint of our family. We are very proud of possessing such a cultural value, which presents an outstanding example of Islamic art.