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.
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
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
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
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
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