Jewellery

The al-Sabah Collection possess an unparalleled assemblage of pre-Islamic and Islamic jewellery and jewelled objects. These objects represent not only the almost eternal quest for beauty, but the aesthetic and technical skills of generations of artisans.
In addition to what is certainly the largest and most representative collection of mediaeval Islamic jewellery in the world, the collection houses an incomparable representation of the jewellery and jewelled objects of the Mughal and Deccan territories of India of the 16th to 18th centuries. The latter has been extensively shown worldwide in the Treasury of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals exhibition, its first venue being the British Museum in London in 2001.
The collection’s holdings of jewellery of the pre-Islamic periods from the Near East and Central and South Asia are extremely extensive and distinguished. The variety of pieces from the early Bronze Age to Late Antiquity is notable and includes gold necklaces, rings and bracelets, a large royal carnelian intaglio and several Bronze Age cylinder seals.
The collection is also rich in items fashioned of decorative hardstones, principally jade and rock crystal. Some of the rock crystal objects date from the early mediaeval period and consist principally of small bottles, beads and gaming pieces. These rare objects date from the 9th to the 11th centuries.

The al-Sabah Collection possess an unparalleled assemblage of pre-Islamic and Islamic jewellery and jewelled objects. These objects represent not only the almost eternal quest for beauty, but the aesthetic and technical skills of generations of artisans.

In addition to what is certainly the largest and most representative collection of mediaeval Islamic jewellery in the world, the collection houses an incomparable representation of the jewellery and jewelled objects of the Mughal and Deccan territories of India of the 16th to 18th centuries. The latter has been extensively shown worldwide in the Treasury of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals exhibition, its first venue being the British Museum in London in 2001.
The collection’s holdings of jewellery of the pre-Islamic periods from the Near East and Central and South Asia are extremely extensive and distinguished. The variety of pieces from the early Bronze Age to Late Antiquity is notable and includes gold necklaces, rings and bracelets, a large royal carnelian intaglio and several Bronze Age cylinder seals.
The collection is also rich in items fashioned of decorative hardstones, principally jade and rock crystal. Some of the rock crystal objects date from the early mediaeval period and consist principally of small bottles, beads and gaming pieces. These rare objects date from the 9th to the 11th centuries.

LNS 181 J

Gold pendant in the form of a bird of prey, all-over decorated with encrusted and painted enamels and set with rock crystal over coloured foils and a single turquoise; pendant pearls (that of the beak missing)

Inv. no. LNS 181 J
Fabricated from sheet and wire, enamelled and set with semiprecious stones
Height 6 cm; width 3.5 cm
Iran, later 18th – early 19th century AD
later 12th – early 12th century AH

LNS 660 HS

Gilt silver box with lid comprised of a jewel-framed silver- and emerald-incrusted jade plaque

Inv. no. LNS 660 HS
Body fabricated from silver, worked in repoussé and gilded; nephrite plaque of lid sawn, ground, polished and engraved by lapidary means, inlaid with gold and set with precious stones
Height 3.5 cm; width 5 cm
Jade plaque Turkey, ca. 17th century AD; box Turkey, probably later 18th century AD
Jade plaque Turkey, ca. 11th century AH; box Turkey, probably later 12th century AH

LNS 216 J a,b

Dagger made in the imperial Ottoman workshops, with gold-inlaid jade hilt and scabbard set with rubies, diamonds and emeralds, and finely engraved gold quillons

Inv. no. LNS 216 J a,b
Blade forged from jawhar steel, ground, polished and lightly etched; hilt and scabbard nephrite, carved, polished, drilled and engraved by lapidary techniques, inlaid with gold and set with precious stones; quillons fabricated from thick sheet, engraved and inlaid with a black organic substance and set with precious stones
Height of dagger unsheathed 31.5 cm; height of dagger and scabbard 35 cm; width 5.7 cm
Hilt, quillons and scabbard, Turkey, ca. 2nd half 16th century AD; blade India, 2nd half 16th – 1st half 17th century AD
Hilt, quillions and scabbard, Turkey, ca. 2nd half 10th century AH; blade India, 2nd half 10th – 1st half 11th century AH

LNS 3979 J

Turban ornament
Carved from nephrite jade; inlaid with gold in kundan technique and set with rubies, emeralds and (probably) white sapphires against a yellow coloured foil.

Inv. No. LNS 3979 J
Carved, kundan worked, set with gemstones
India (Mughal Dominions), late 17th – early 18th century AD

LNS 3909 J a,b

Katar dagger and scabbard (probably not original to the dagger), the jade hilt decorated with quatrefoils of rubies and diamonds, and with small ruby circles along the edges; the upper blade covered on both sides by gold-inlaid jade plaques (of a piece with the knuckle-guard); scabbard fitted with enamelled gold locket and chape, with a pattern of ruby-red quatrefoils on an opaque white ground

Inv. no. LNS 3909 J ab
Nephrite hilt carved, polished and engraved by lapidary means, fitted with iron reinforcements, inlaid with gold in kundan technique and set with gemstones; blade forged from jawhar steel, ground, polished and lightly etched; scabbard wood overlaid with velvet, fitted with champlevé-enameled gold locket and chape
Length 44 cm; width 9.3 cm
India, probably later 17th – early 18th century AD
probably later 11th – early 12th century AH

To see more jewellery and hardstone objects

For information on our jewellery and hardstone publications Treasury of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals and Precious Indian Weapons and Other Princely Accoutrement

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LNS 728 HS a,b
Dagger and scabbard, the jade hilt and the scabbard’s locket and chape decorated with floral motifs inlaid with gold and set with rubies, diamonds and emeralds; upper part of the blade decorated with a flowering plant motif in two colours of gold Inv. no. LNS 728 HS ab Nephrite hilt, locket and chape carved and polished by lapidary means, engraved and inlaid with gold and set with gemstones in kundan technique; blade forged from jawhar steel, ground, polished and lightly etched, hatched and overlaid with gold; scabbard wood overlaid with velvet and fitted with jade locket and chape Height of dagger 38.8 cm; width of dagger 7.3 cm; height of scabbard 28.7 cm; width of scabbard 7 cm India, probably Deccan, ca. middle to 3rd quarter, 17th century AD ca. middle to 3rd quarter, 11th century AH
LNS 13 HS a,b
Dagger and scabbard, the form and decoration of the jade hilt of floral character, inlaid with gold and set with rubies, diamonds and emeralds; blade discolored by recent heating; scabbard gold, champlevé-enamelled with flowering plant motifs, fitted with jade locket and chape inlaid with gold and set with rubies and emeralds Inv. no. LNS 13 HS ab Nephrite hilt, locket and chape carved and polished by lapidary means, engraved and inlaid with gold and set with gemstones in kundan technique; blade forged from jawhar steel, ground, polished and lightly etched (the ‘watered’ surface destroyed by ‘repolishing’ and heating, perhaps at the time of the making of the scabbard); scabbard wood overlaid with gold sheet and champlevé-enameled, fitted with jade locket and chape Height of dagger 35.5 cm; width of dagger 5.3 cm; height of scabbard 28.3 cm; width of scabbard 4.6 cm India, probably Deccan, the hilt, locket and chape ca. mid 17th century AD; scabbard ca. earlier 18th century AD the hilt, locket and chape ca. mid 11th century AH; scabbard ca. earier 12th century AH India, probably Deccan, the hilt, locket and chape ca. mid-17th century AD; scabbard ca. earlier 18th century AD
LNS 635 HS
Huqqa (hookah) reservoir of off-white jade, inlaid with floral motifs in rubies and emeralds; neck carved from one piece, compartments of body separately carved and assembled over a tinned copper internal reservoir Inv. no. LNS 635 HS Nephrite, carved, polished and engraved by lapidary means, jade plaques and precious stones set in kundan technique Height 19.6 cm; diameter 18 cm India, probably Deccan, later 17th - early 18th century AD later 11th - early 12th century AH
LNS 173 J
Gold ‘choker’ necklace, comprised of hinged elements set with large flat diamonds, strung with pearls, and with pendant emerald beads and pearls; backs of hinged elements champlevé-enameled with floral motifs Inv. no. LNS 173 J Fabricated from gold and set with gemstones in kundan technique; backs champlevé-enamelled; pendant emeralds carved, polished and drilled by lapidary means; pearls drilled Height 7.5 cm; width 26 cm India, Deccan, Hyderabad, later 18th - 19th century AD later 12th - 13th century AH
LNS 2868 J a,b
Pair of gold earplugs with decorative rosettes projecting from the front, and pendant elements, all augmented with pearls; champlevé-enamelled with poppy flower motifs on formally-arranged stems; backs undecorated except for wire and granulation on the screw-held caps of the ear-hole posts Inv. no. LNS 2868 J ab Fabricated from gold, champlevé-enamelled and strung with pearls; pearls strung on and suspended via gold wire Average height 7.5 cm; average width 5.2 cm India, Mughal dominions, probably 2nd quarter, 17th century AD probably 2nd quarter, 11th century AH
LNS 292 J
Gold head ornament featuring a floral element set with ajour diamonds, from which is suspended a domical enameled element with dangling pearls and set with ajour diamonds; small gold hook set with a diamond tops the suspending string of pearls and two emerald beads Inv. no. LNS 292 J Fabricated from gold, set with precious stones in kundan technique, and champlevé-enameled; pearls and emerald bead of top section on silk thread, lower pearls suspended on gold wire Height 32.5 cm; width 5 cm India, Deccan, Hyderabad, late 18th - 19th century AD late 12th - 13th century AH
LNS 633 HS
Jade ‘crutch’ (zafar takiya) head, exquisitely carved in the form of two naturalistic haltered blackbuck heads and necks, resting on a lotus leaf, with a ferrule drilled with a large hole at the bottom for fitting onto a staff Inv. no. LNS 633 HS Nephrite, carved, polished and drilled by lapidary means Height 4.5 cm; width 13 cm India, probably Deccan, ca. 2nd quarter, 17th century AD ca. 2nd quarter, 11th century AH
LNS 16 J
Gold necklace and pendant set with diamonds, with pendant emerald bead, champlevé-enamelled in green on the back of the hinged ‘chain’ elements, and with red, green and blue floral motifs on the back of the pendant Inv. no. LNS 16 J Fabricated from gold and set with gemstones in kundan technique; backs champlevé-enamelled; pendant bead carved, polished and drilled by lapidary means Height 39 cm; width of pendant 4 cm India, Deccan, Hyderabad, late 18th century AD late 12th century AH
LNS 3931 J
Pendant set with a large blue sapphire cabochon of rounded pyramidal shape, with suspended ribbed emerald bead of drop shape (modern gold settings) Inv. no. LNS 3931 J Stones cut and polished by lapidary means, the emerald drilled with diamond-tipped bit; gold fabricated from sheet, wire and shot Height 6 cm; width 3 cm India, probably 17th century AD or earlier probably 11th century AH or earlier
LNS 2195 J
Sword and hilt, the pommel in the form of a stylised parrot’s head set with rubies and emeralds in an imbrication pattern, the ‘eyes’ set with faceted-conical diamonds surrounded by ruby petals, the ruby ‘beak’ set in a wider expanse of gold which is detailed with half-palmettes; pommel set off from the grip by a channel-set emerald collar, the grip in an elaborate chevron pattern of emeralds and rubies; quillons ending in bud forms; the blade, hatched and gold-overlaid with inept ‘inscriptions’ probably of the 20th century Inv. no. LNS 2195 J Blade forged from pattern-welded steel, ground and polished, stamped with a ‘workshop mark’; hilt gold over an iron core, worked in kundan technique, partially engraved and set with gemstones Length 90 cm; width at quillon 7.5 cm India, hilt probably late 16th - early 17th century AD; blade 17th or early 18th century AD hilt probably late 10th - early 11th century AH; blade 11th or early 12th century AH
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