PROBABLY GHAZNAVID KHORASSAN, IRAN, FIRST HALF 11TH CENTURY

These magnificent armlets are a rare survival of early Ghaznavid goldwork. Only a handful of comparable armlets are known. One is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 57.88a-c) and was found in Gurgan. Notably, the backs of the four cylinders that form the corners of the clasp on that example were made using coins from the reign of the 'Abbasid caliph al-Qadir (d. 1031 AD). They were probably struck at Nishapur and were apparently new when incorporated into the armlet (Marilyn Jenkins and Manuel Keene, Islamic Jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1983. no. 16, p. 40). The companion piece of the Metropolitan armlet is in the Freer Gallery of Art (acc. no. F1958.6).

Both pairs show strong archaizing tendencies and fit in a tradition which, whether dictated by technique or convention, maintains a high degree of consistency over several centuries. Comparable filigree appears on a gold belt ornament in the Benaki Museum (acc. no. GE 1856) reputedly excavated at Samarra, as well as numerous pieces of jewellery attributed to Fatimid Syria and Egypt (for instance, British Museum inv. nos 1949,1007.6 and 1971,0802.10). An unusual silver bracelet attributed to Iran was made using many of the same design elements as the present pair of armlets (Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 1981.232.3). Additionally, the reuse of coins on jewellery is commonly seen on Roman jewellery (Jenkins and Keene, op. cit., p. 40), including on coin pendants in the British Museum (inv. nos 1933,0614.1 and 1969,0901.5) attributed to Italy. A group of jewellery from this tradition was sold in these Rooms on 26 October 2023, lot 40.