Pendant with Two Birds
Title: Pendant with Two Birds
Date: ca. 11th Century CE
Medium: Gold and Enamel
Credit Line: The British Museum, 1981,0707.2
The “Pendant with Two Birds” is a gold and enamel piece of jewelry that has been traced back to the 11th Century Egyptian Fatimid Empire. The pendant was likely hung on a string of pearls and was made utilizing the Byzantine technique of filigree which involves strips of gold wires being flattened, bent, and soldered onto a base to create the intricate looping design surrounding the enamel insert. Pendants such as these were common among the Fatimid elite and this pendant specifically may have been owned by a female relative to the caliph. While the Fatimids had ample access to gold through Africa and passing trade routes, gold jewelry was a luxury and owning pieces such as these were a status symbol in Fatimid Cairo.