Jewelry in Islamic Lands
Elizabeth Dospěl Williams
Synopsis:
This presentation explores precious metal jewelry – including rings, bracelets, earrings, and other ornaments – from the Byzantine and early Islamic Middle East. It considers attitudes towards wealth, the role of dress in conveying gender, religious identity, and social status, notions of power and authority, and the relationship of the adorned human form to other ambient forms of visual and material culture. In addition, this talk provides basic definitions for important technical terms used to describe jewels and their various production techniques.
References:
Brosh, Na’ama. Islamic Jewelry. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1987.
Brosh, Na’ama and Myriam Ayalon-Rosen, eds. Jewellery and Goldsmithing in the Islamic World. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1991.
Content, Derek. Islamic Rings and Gems: The Benjamin Zucker Collection. London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 1987.
Diba, Layla. Turkmen Jewelry: Silver Ornaments from the Marshall and Marilyn R. Wolf Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art; and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.
Jenkins, Marilyn and Manuel Keene. Islamic Jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983.
Porter, Venetia, et al. Arabic and Persian Seals and Amulets in the British Museum. London: The British Museum, 2011.
Spink, Michael and Jack Ogden. The Art of Adornment: Jewellery of the Islamic Lands. London: The Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions, 2013.
Citation:
Elizabeth Dospěl Williams, “Jewelry in Islamic Lands,” Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, published 3 October 2024.

Elizabeth Dospěl Williams is Penny Vinik Chair for Fashion, Textiles, and Jewelry at the MFA Boston. She was formerly Curator of the Byzantine Collection at the Dumbarton Oaks. Her exhibitions include Woven Interiors: Furnishing Early Medieval Egypt (in collaboration with the Textile Museum, 2019-20), Ornament: Fragments of Byzantine Fashion (2019-20), and Rich in Blessings: Women, Wealth and the Late Antique Household (2023-4). She received her Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, focusing on jewelry, dress practices, and attitudes towards adornment in the Byzantine and early Islamic periods.