Throughout Islamic history, and even before Islam, jewellery played an important part in distinguishing social classes. The rulers and the elite would demonstrate their wealth and power by wearing elaborate jewellery lined with precious stones and intricate designs.
Calligraphic craftsmanship reached new masterly levels as verses from the Quran, the names of Prophet Mohammed, names of the rulers and religious sayings were carved meticulously along the tiniest spaces and surfaces of rare stones and precious metal.
"Such beautiful craftsmanship," says Ulrike Al Khamis, the strategic adviser on Islamic and Middle Eastern arts at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization.
Al Khamis is looking at a glass display with three agate stones, each the size of a finger's digit, with fine inscriptions on them. The red stone, from 17th-18th century Iran, has the entire Ayat Al Kursi from the Quran in reverse printed on it to ensure blessings and the well-being of its wearer.
Islamic rings also often functioned as official seals. The name of the owner would be carved along a piece in reverse and different fonts were applied over the centuries. On display at the museum are a collection of silver and bronze rings from the early Islamic period, believed to be from Iraq or Iran, with Kufic inscriptions on the stones. Prophet Mohammed had a ring, with "Mohammed Prophet of Allah" carved on what was said to have been a red orange stone known as "Aqeeq Yemeni", a type of agate he used as his personal seal when stamping documents.
"Each crafted masterpiece remains tied to the time and place of its birth, where Islamic jewellery remains as diverse as the citizens of its various empires," says Al Khamis. "There is no generic Islamic jewellery. Each piece is unique and distinct with its own story."
As part of a month dedicated to reviving interest in Islamic jewellery and designs, the museum is holding workshops for those interested in learning more about patterns on both jewellery and tiles.
The participants are first taken on a tour by Al Khamis around the galleries to see the different sets of jewellery on display before they then craft their own Islamic-inspired pieces using sheets of brass and silver. The workshop is free, though participants wanting to use a large amount of silver will be charged. "Not much has survived from the early Islamic period. Over the centuries, during times of crisis, the jewellery would be hidden, sold, melted down," says Al Khamis.
One of the items that survived and is on display is a bracelet, believed to date back to the 12th century, made of sheet silver and designed like twisted rope, joined by a circular attachment with incised and punched geometric decoration.
"Besides being symbols of wealth and power, jewellery was an investment, much like today, as a safeguard for difficult times," Al Khamis says.
Necklaces with coins dangling from them, a design still seen today in a lot of the traditional Bedouin nomadic cultures of Oman and the UAE, were more than just beautification designs. The coins could actually be detached and used as money.
"Some pre-Islamic traditions and styles of craftsmanship survived into the Islamic period, where different stones were believed to have different protective properties, like emeralds were believed to protect against poison and a ruby was believed to give health and protect the blood," says Al Khamis. "The blue or turquoise stone is still used today as protection against the evil eye, a belief that survived from ancient Egypt. It is not Islamic."
Men were discouraged from wearing gold in Islamic tradition, and therefore a lot of the jewellery and decorative items such as pins and sword covers ended up being made of silver. Meanwhile, jewellery would make up an important segment of a woman's dowry, a tradition that exists to this day. Jewellery in general is an important element of any marriage contract and celebrations.
"From the 16th century onwards, we have a clearer picture of the kinds of jewellery that were around and the different styles," she says. "The miniature drawings give us a great insight into the different types of jewellery worn. Like how we would see the ruler wearing a pin of pearls along his turban, where pearls were brought over from here, from the Gulf countries."
As the great empires such as the Ottoman, the Safavid and the Mughal evolved so did their treasures. They collected and dug up gems, stones and metals from across their empires. By the 17th century, Islamic territories reached all the way from Europe, Turkey and the Middle East across Iran to India and South East Asia.
"The Mughal empire, for instance, had such a huge treasury that it would take 14 years to audit everything in it," she says. "Not only would they use the precious rare treasures themselves, they would give the jewellery away as diplomatic gifts."
The Mughal fashion was to concentrate the application of precious stones and pearls on the front of pieces while protecting their back, set to touch the wearer's skin or clothing with an enamelled surface.
Besides the historic journey, participants of the workshops can try their hand at filing, hammering, cutting and using sharp tools like a saw, to make their own jewellery under the guidance of the Emirati jewellery maker Azza Al Qubaisi.
"There is so much beauty and knowledge in a piece of jewellery, where every pattern has a past and story associated with it," says Al Qubaisi, who has been designing her own jewellery since she was a teenager, taking it up as a proper profession in 2002.
She is working on a dissertation for a master's degree that focuses on the stories and cultural identities behind patterns, including Islamic patterns. She has discovered that some of the geometric and floral designs being marketed today as Islamic are, in fact, non-Islamic in origin.
"There is a popular one in use, a circle with four arches forming a starlike shape. It is actually Buddhist in origin, not Islamic. It is a fascinating area of study, and I truly enjoy discovering more about what is Emirati jewellery and what influences it has had introduced from other cultures and time periods," she says.
Al Qubaisi regularly holds workshops and has launched the Ebda'a Award, a national jewellery honour given at a design competition at the International Jewellery and Watch Show, in Abu Dhabi this week.
"I really like working with people who have never designed before, as sometimes true gems come out from their attempts. They discover they have what it takes to design and make jewellery," she says. "But it is hard work. It may look easy, but it does take a special touch and an eye for art."
That is what Um Ahmed discovered, one of the museum's workshop participants.
"I can't feel my hands after all that filing. I have a new appreciation for jewellery and especially Islamic jewellery," says the 35-year-old Emirati from Sharjah.
"My mother has some old jewellery with some of the designs I have seen here. I used to think they are outdated, but now see how beautiful they are."
rghazal@thenational.ae
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