Publication Date
Fourth-fifth/tenth-eleventh centuries
Publication Place
-
British Museum
Subject
Carved rock crystal with silver accents.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
الارتفاع 14.98 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
1894.5-17.1
Record ID
object;ISL;uk;Mus01;5;ar
Library Location
British Museum
Date
Fourth-fifth/tenth-eleventh centuries
Notes
A small cylindrical bottle made of rock crystal, narrow at the base, and has a silver base and strap. The piece is engraved with beveled corners on the edges to produce abstract designs resembling a distorted sheet of paper. Rock crystal is considered the purest type of quartz, and it was very common in the Fatimid era. The historian Al-Maqrizi (766-845 / 1364-1442) narrates that among the treasures of the Fatimid caliphs in Egypt there were 17 thousand boxes, each of which contained pieces of rock crystal, decorated by engraving or not, and they were also of great value in Europe. Today, many Islamic pieces made of decorated crystal can be found in church vaults in Europe, where they were used for ritual purposes to preserve religious relics. The silver base and brace may have been added when the piece arrived in Europe.
Sample Text
Emily Shovelton “Floral” inDiscover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus01;5;ar
