Encountering the Middle East: HONR 212B-01H

Isabella Nicholson Catalogue Entry

This item is a pendant that is currently being showcased in the British Museum’s Middle Eastern Department[1]. It does not have a formal name from an artist but is referred to as the “Pendant with Two Birds”. The British Museum acquired the item in 1981 from Thomas H.G. Howard-Sneyd who is a well-known antique collector and has sold various other items to the British Museum as well. The pendant is 3 centimeters tall and 2.5 centimeters wide[2]. The crescent-shaped pendant is composed up of a gold base with gold wiring to create an intricate looped design. At the rounded bottom of the pendant, there is additional gold ornamentation with a central loop so it can be placed on a necklace. At the center of the pendant is a gold, wire construction of two symmetrical birds facing away from each other which has been filled with a blueish green enamel which has been damaged over time. The pendant has additional rings in the dip of the crescent so it can be hung with a string of pearls[3]. While the pendant is small in physical size, it is evidence of a thriving artistic culture in the East and the cross-cultural connections that existed in previous centuries.

Based on the research of art historians, it has been speculated that the pendant was created in the 11^th century. One aspect that helps with determining the date of the pendant is its focal point: the two birds. Birds are considered a staple animal that is featured in Islamic pieces, as seen in the separate pairs of earrings shown here. However, the figural representation of birds in this manner did not emerge until the middle of the 11^th Century[4]. Art historians also have a strong idea that the pendant came from Cairo, Egypt. Some historians speculate that the pendant may have come from Byzantium but is not as likely considering that nearly all pieces like the pendant with two birds that have been discovered have been traced to Cairo[5]. Additionally, jewelry was considered a key role for life in Cairo. The Fatimids stressed the value of appearances and even had rules requiring that women wear jewelry whilst praying[6]. This is likely because of the global economic position of the Fatimids. The Fatimid empire was conveniently located in between the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean which hosted extremely high traffic trade routes. This made it very easy and less expensive to import gold from North Africa as opposed to other territories[7], which explains the plethora of gold jewelry that has been uncovered from Cairo in the 11^th Century.

The pendant with two birds utilizes a variety of techniques rooted in centuries of history that are considered extremely challenging and require years of learned skill to execute properly. Firstly, the enamel inset on the pendant was created using cloisonné. Cloisonné is a process where a person takes delicate gold wire and solders it to a gold base. Then, an enamel paste is placed inside the shape created by the wiring, where it is then cooked in a furnace and polished to create its shiny appearance[8]. Cloisonné work has been found in pieces around the world but can first be seen in the 6^th century from Byzantine artists[9]. The skill of cloisonné can even be tracked up to the 15^th century when enamels pieces from the Moors in Spain were discovered and it has been claimed that they were inspired by the 11^th Century Fatimids[10].

 

The other primary technique being used in the pendant is known as filigree. Filigree is when gold wires are bent and shaped into decorative patterns, where they can be soldered to a base or left open[11]. In this case, the filigree is in an open style, given the repetitive s-curve wires that lay outside of the enamel and provide a frame for the scene in the middle of the pendant. These two styles were common in Fatimid jewelry, but this does not mean that they were easy to obtain. A piece with these elements requires a high caliber artisan who primarily works for the most elite members of a society.

It is also important to note that the while the specific individual who commissioned the pendant is unknown, this does not mean that art historians do not have a sense of who would commission a pendant similar to the one presented above.

One theory is that the pendant was commissioned as a gift between the leaders of the Byzantine empire and the Fatimids. During the 11^th Century, the Fatimids had rather positive relations with neighbouring regions like the Normans and Byzantines[12]. In fact, there is a written record by Qādī ibn al-Zubayr of an exchange of gifts from Constantine, the ruler of the Byzantine empire at the time to the reigning Fatimid caliph, al-Mustansir bi-Allah. One portion of the gift included, “a hundred gold vessels of various kinds inlaid with enamel”[13]. Given the enamel inset that the pendant contains, it is possible to theorize that the Pendant with two birds was amongst the items given to the Fatimids in Egypt. According to written records, the gift was in response to a renewed armistice between the two empires and was an unprecedented action from the Byzantines[14]. While we cannot confirm that this pendant specifically was included in the gift’s contents, we can conclude that similar jewellery had aesthetic and diplomatic purposes.

Another plausible theory is that the pendant was commissioned by an elite woman for personal uses. During the Fatimid empire, elite women had relatively more autonomy over their finances than women in other Islamic empires and had the ability to patron items from personal jewellery to entire buildings, especially female relatives of the caliph[15]. Therefore, it is not out of the question to believe that an elite woman had the capability to commission a piece of jewellery for herself.

While there is no credited artist for the pendant, the techniques and style of the pendant indicate the creator was influenced by Byzantine and Islamic art styles[16]. We are not sure if it was made by an Islamic craftsman who studied Byzantine styles of jewellery-making, or a Byzantian artist who made the pendant which was subsequently given to the Fatimids. Art historians struggle with differentiating the two styles because they are so heavily intertwined[17]. However, most enamels dated to this time period were made in Egypt because the skills necessary had travelled past the lines of origin[18].

Gold is one of the few elements that has stood the test of time regarding its value and importance in society. People for centuries have gone to great lengths to secure gold for themselves, and one of the more common ways that people own gold is through jewelry[19]. So much so, gold jewelry in families is shared between generations and revered as heirlooms. In Islamic society, having the means to wear such a valuable element highlighted an individual’s proximity to not only wealth, but the social capital necessary to either purchase or have a piece of jewelry made. The concept of extravagance is primarily associated with grandeur, excess and things that are larger than life. Despite this, items that are small in physical in size can highlight extravagance in their rich history and inherent value, like the pendant with two birds. The Fatimids lived a life of luxury and recognized the importance of visual appeal, ranging from pieces of architecture to textiles.[20] The “Pendant with Two Birds” is not an exception to this rule due to its high-level craftsmanship and attention to detail.

Works Cited

Bloom, Jonathan M. “The Origins of Fatimid Art.” Muqarnas 3 (1985): 20–38, https://doi.org/10.23 07/1523082.

British Museum. “Pendant: British Museum.” Accessed April 28, 2023. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1981-0707-2. 

Cortese, Delia, and Simonetta Calderini. Women and the Fatimids in the World of Islam. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Jenkins, Marilyn. “Fāṭimid Jewelry, Its Subtypes and Influences.” Ars Orientalis 18 (1988): 39–57.

Lester, Ayala. “Byzantine Influence in the Consolidation of Fatimid Jewelry.” In Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East: June 9-13, 2014, University of Basel. Volume 2: Egypt and Ancient Near East - Perceptions of Alterity, Ancient Near Eastern Traditions vs. Hellenization/Romanization, Reconstructing Ancient Eco-Systems, Islamic Session, edited by Susanne Bickel et al., 1st ed., 397–412.Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2016. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvc7713g.33.

 Milliken, William M. “Byzantine Jewelry and Associated Pieces.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 34, no. 7 (December 1947): 166–76.

Qaddūmī, Ghāda Ḥijjāwī. “Chapter on Gifts.”. In Book of Gifts and Rarities: Selections Compiled in the Fifteenth Century from an Eleventh Century Manuscript on Gifts and Treasures (Kitāb Al-Hadāyā Wa Al-tuạf), edited by Oleg Grabar and Annemarie Schimmel, translated by Ibn-az-Zubair Qāḍī ar-Rašīd, 61–118. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Univ. Press, 1996.

Reick, Eva-Maria. "Human and Animal Representations in Fatimid Art." MA Thesis, Wayne State University, 1971.

Ross, Marvin Chauncey. “An Egypto-Arabic Cloisonné Enamel.” Ars Islamica 7, no. 2 (1940): 165–67.

Suleman, Fahdima. “The Fatimids.” In The Islamic World: A History in Objects, edited by Ladan Akbarnia et al., 106-07. London: The Trustees of the British Museum/Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2018.

Ward, Rachel. “Europe, Islam, China, Korea, and Java.” In Seven Thousand Years of Jewellery, edited by Hugh Tait, 135-49. London: British Museum Publications, 1986.