Jenkins M., Keene M. Islamic Jewelry in The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Metropolitan Museum, 1983. — 162 p. — ISBN10: 0870993267 / ISBN13: 978-0870993268.The Muslim world has given rise to a rich and varied tradition of jewelry making, characterized by the combination of great artistic invention and a fidelity to inherited traditions. Beauty of overall design and harmony of color - the aesthetic impulses underlying all the arts of Islam - were the Islamic jeweler's highest priorities. These skills and aesthetic principles are splendidly exemplified in the extensive collection of Islamic jewelry in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Based on recent scholarship, as well as on early visual representations and literary documents, the text traces the development of Islamic jewelry from the seventh century to the twentieth through aesthetic and technical analyses of selected Islamic jewelry pieces in the Museum's collection. This volume also includes a glossary and an informative technical appendix.Not only is this an important scholarly work, it is also a wonderfully illustrated, accessible introduction to Islamic art and to its study over the last tumultuous.