More Andalusian jewelry

christiesnasrid12thcent These earrings are thought to have been made between the 11th and 12th century in either Nasrid Spain or Iran. They are gold crescents with granulation along the bottom edge. One side of the earring has an inscription (no translation available) and the other an abstract design. The diameter is 1.5 cm. The earrings were sold by Christies for $8,395 (£5,250).

christiesgoldroundel11thcent These earrings were thought to have been made between the 11th and 14th centuries. These are earrings made of gold in a roundel shape. It is made of gold sheet, worked in the inside section into a palmette shape while the outside decorations were also made of convex gold sheet decorated with gold granules. The earrings are 7cm wide. The earrings were sold by Christies for $10,428 (£6,000).

qantaraalmohadearring12thcent This earring was thought to have been made in the 12th century. Made of gold, in filigree and granulation. The size is 5.8 cm. It is in a crescent shape with birds and a tree in abstract. The crescent has an inscription which reads “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate”. It had been made during the Almohad or Almoravid caliphate. More information can be found on the Qantara website.

nasrid14thcentgoldbeltbuckle The belt buckle was thought to have been made between the 14th and 15th century. Made from gold, enameled with an inscription (no translation available) and decorations of very fine filigree and granulations. It is 9.7 cm long. Information available through Google Cultural Institute or the Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar (item JE.210.2008).

enamellednasrid15thcent This is a collection of five enameled pieces not made from gold but gold gilt. There is also an amulet that had been enameled with the inscription from the Quran CXII. The biggest piece is 3.4 cm and the smallest is 1.8 cm. It was thought that the items came from a horse’s bridle. The items had been sold by Sotheby’s.

Mudéjar textiles of Spain

mudejarlionsfacing This textile was thought to have been made in the 13th century by Mudéjar textile workers. The textile is 57.4 cm by 60.9 cm and made of linen with a silk twill weave. The textile is in the Art Institute of Chicago.

metmudejartextile This textile was thought to have been made in the 14th century. It is silk in a lampas weave. The textile is 102 cm by 36.3 cm and features calligraphic inscriptions. The word felicity (الغبطة) is in kufic script and is mirrored in the weave. In the cartouches are the words good luck and prosperity (والیمن والإقبال ) in nakshi script. The textile is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

clevelandmudejartextile1 This textile was thought to have been made in the 15th century. It is a silk lampas weave fragment, 34.2 cm by 25.2 cm. It is in the Cleveland Museum of Art.

metmudejarlampas This textile was thought to have been made around 1470 C.E. It is silk in a lampas weave. The size is 23.5 cm by 52.7 cm. The textile can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A matching textile can also be found in the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Recommended reading
Mudéjar Art by Museum with No Frontiers.
Symbol, Pattern and Symmetry: The Cultural Significance of Structure by Michael Hann. Via Google Books.
Under The Influence: Questioning the Comparative in Medieval Castile edited by Cynthia Robinson and Leyla Rouhi. Via Google Books.
Two Medieval Silks from Spain by Dorothy G. Shepherd. JStor article.
Textiles from Old Spain by Adele Coulin Weibel. JStor article.

The veil of Hisham II

veilofhishamii This textile, thought to have been a veil, was found in a reliquary in the Santa María del Rivero church alter. It had been wrapped around the item in the reliquary but the textile has now been restored.

It is 109 cm long and 18 cm wide base fabric of linen with the decoration a silk & linen tapestry weave. It has tiraz bands in the decoration, with the inscription of-

“In the name of god the indulgent, the merciful”

as well as-

“May divine blessing, prosperity and long life be attributed to the imam, god’s servant, Hisham, he who is the object of his benevolence, the emir of all believers.”

Tiraz detail-
hishamtirazdetail
The kufic tiraz talks of Hisham, a 10th-11th century Caliph that ruled Cordoba during the Umayyad era. The animals in the tapestry woven roundels are birds and cats- hishamveilroundeldetail
The textile can be seen through the Qantara website although the textile is in the Real Academia de la Historia in Madrid.

Recommended reading
Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain edited Jerrilyn Dodds. Available to read online at the Internet Archive.
The Origin and Early Development of Floriated Kūfic by Adolf Grohmann. JStor article.
Material for a History of Islamic Textiles up to the Mongol Conquest by R. B. Serjeant. JStor article.
Ṭirāz Textiles from Egypt: Production, Administration and Uses of Ṭirāz Textiles from Egypt Under the Umayyad, ʻAbbāsid and Fāṭimid Dynasties by Jochen Sokoly. Phd thesis.

A Nasrid belt

This was either a belt or horse bridle, thought to have been made in the royal workshop (due to the quality) in the 15th century in Granada, Spain. It is made of gilt copper with filigree, granulation and cloisonné enamel. The ornaments would have been threaded onto a leather belt, which can be seen in the side view- The detail of the larger ornament- Detail of another ornament- All of the ornaments have different decorations. The ornaments can be seen at the The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Nasrid jewelry

These are earring elements, made of filigree gold and enamel. The 14th century elements are 3cm long and made of spiralling gold wire, the central band with cloisonné enamel lettering on a ground of gold spirals above a minor band of zigzags, the lower hemispherical portion with heart shaped gold spirals. The earrings were sold by Christies for £18,800 ($29,779).

This necklace is late 15th-16th century, made of filigreed and granulated gold with cloisonné enamel. While this was made by Nasrid craftsmen, the inscription is Latin- “Hail Mary, full of Grace” meaning it would have been made for a Christian. The medallion is 7.6 x 0.5 cm, the lotus bud is 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.5 cm with the largest of the cylinder beads 4.8 x 1.7 cm and the smallest 2.5 x 1.3 cm. It is currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This is a locket from a sword belt, made of gilded copper alloy, with granulation and cloisonné enamel. Thought to have been made between 1492-1550, it has a meaningless Arabic inscription. Most likely this was a trophy made from the “Reconquista” of Spain. It has a height of 7.3 cm, width of 14.6 cm and depth of 1.4 cm. The item is currently in the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Recommended reading
The Survival of Nasrid Granada during the Reconquest by Marcel Abou-Assaly. Via Medievalists.net.
Moorish Spain by Richard Fletcher. Via Google Books.
The Art of Islamic Spain by Patricia, Countess Jellicoe. Via Saudi Aramco World.
The Muslims of Valencia in the Age of Fernando and Isabel by Mark D. Meyerson. Via Google Books.
Muqarnas edited by Gulru Necipoglu. Via Google Books.

Umayyad Andalusian jewelry

These items of jewelry (including coins) were found in Murcia, Spain in a coin hoard. They are dated to the Umayyad period or 756–1031 C.E. This particular group was thought to have been made between 929-1010 C.E.

This is thought to have been part of a necklace, made of gilded silver and copper. With a diameter of 9.2 cm and depth: 1.5 cm, it is decorated with bosses and stamped with filigree.

This open filigree rosette is 2.8 cm high, 2.8 cm wide with a depth of 0.55 cm.

This Magen David or Star of David is gilded silver with filigree decorations. The diameter is 3.3 cm.

Also thought to have been part of a necklace, this necklace is made of gilded copper and silver with glass, coral and carnelian beads.

These are silver gilt filigree plaques possibly from a girdle. They have been set with glass, although four of the settings are missing. There are four square and three circular plaques, set alternatively with a height of 3.2 cm, width of 6.8 cm and depth of 0.6 cm.

This necklace is made of gilded silver filigree and pearls. The diameter is 10.5 cm and width of 0.5 cm with what looks like fresh water pearls.

This engraved gold sheet with filigree was also thought to be part of a girdle. The height is 4 cm, width: 21.1 cm and depth: 0.2 cm.

These earrings are gold with filigree rosettes with the largest earring having a height of 4.3 cm, width of 4 cm and depth: 1.7 cm. The smaller earring has a height of 4.2 cm, width of 3.8 cm and depth: 1.5 cm.

These stamped silver coins come from the reign of Al-Hakam II (961-976 C.E.) and his son Hisham II (976-1008 C.E.). The coins have a diameter of 2.2 cm and depth of 0.1 cm, on average. It was thought they were pierced to be placed on a headband.