An enamelled gold filigree jewellery element, Egypt or Syria, 10th/11th centuries

of closed crescent form, the terminals enclosing a circle, six circular loops around the circumference, of box construction formed from filigree and gold strips embellished with granulation and housing a fitted crescent

This important example of Fatimid enamelled jewellery is of a type rarely seen on the market. The taste for enamelled embellishments was learnt from Byzantine art and is a striking illustration of the rivalry in splendour between these two courts.

The exchange of styles and techniques was inevitable from the exchange of embassies, gifts and trade. An eleventh-century source records such an event when the Byzantine King Michael sent gifts to the mother of al-Imam al-Mustansir bi-Allah (Fatimid caliph from 1035 to 1095). This comprised 'five chests... of jewellery enamelled... with glass in five colours: deep red, snow white, jet black, sky blue, deep azure. It was fashioned in the best goldsmiths' work' (from Qaddumi quoted in New York 1997, p.420).

There is no mention in this source of enamelled gifts sent by the Fatimids in return. Other contemporary sources, such as the Cairo Geniza, are similarly reticent on the subject of Fatimid enamels. Since there is no significant Islamic enamel tradition until much later, and considering that Byzantine enamel was produced in relative abundance, there is a strong possibility that the cloisonné enamel plaques were imported into Syria and Egypt for use in this form of jewellery.

Intriguingly, the manner of construction suggests that the element was made prior to the goldsmith receiving the plaque. Hence, although the gold work is of a very high standard, the plaques are often a loose fit relying on adhesive rather than the mounts to keep them in place.