Fatimid Dynasty Gold Star Ring
From the Journal
Buying Antique Rings Online: Sizing, Resizing and Wearability
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A rare gold ring from Fatimid Egypt, 11th century and probably made in Cairo. Its six-pointed star head is built entirely by hand from wire and sheet gold, a type of which only a handful are known.The Fatimid caliphs ruled Egypt from 969, when they founded Cairo as their capital, until 1171. Their court was among the richest of the medieval world, and its goldsmiths were famed for jewellery of extraordinary delicacy. Very little survives. Gold was routinely melted down and remade, so pieces like this are rare survivals. The known examples of these star rings, in museums and private collections, all share the same form.The head is a hollow six-pointed star, a shape long associated in the Islamic world with the Seal of Solomon and its protective power. At its centre, an interlaced knot sits within a ring of twisted rope wire. Around it, tiny walled compartments and scrolling filigree are picked out with granulation, minute beads of gold fused to the surface. The compartments were once filled with coloured cloisonné enamel, now lost. Each point of the star is pierced: a fine gold wire once ran through these holes, threaded with seed pearls, so that the whole star was ringed with them. This is the same construction seen on surviving Fatimid pendants and earrings.The gold is of high purity, testing at approximately 19 to 20K throughout, and the band is original to the ring. It is a demanding piece of goldsmithing, among the most complex finger rings of the medieval Islamic world, and remarkably wearable a thousand years on.Details: Fatimid, 11th century; Egypt, probably Cairo; gold, testing approx. 19–20K; star head 15 × 19 mm; 3.08g; UK J, US 4¾.Condition: Good for its age and all original. The enamel, and the pearls with their wire, are lost. There are small dents and irregularities to the edges of the star, wear to the band, and old dirt in the recesses.
A rare gold ring from Fatimid Egypt, 11th century and probably made in Cairo. Its six-pointed star head is built entirely by hand from wire and sheet gold, a type of which only a handful are known.
The Fatimid caliphs ruled Egypt from 969, when they founded Cairo as their capital, until 1171. Their court was among the richest of the medieval world, and its goldsmiths were famed for jewellery of extraordinary delicacy. Very little survives. Gold was routinely melted down and remade, so pieces like this are rare survivals. The known examples of these star rings, in museums and private collections, all share the same form.
The head is a hollow six-pointed star, a shape long associated in the Islamic world with the Seal of Solomon and its protective power. At its centre, an interlaced knot sits within a ring of twisted rope wire. Around it, tiny walled compartments and scrolling filigree are picked out with granulation, minute beads of gold fused to the surface. The compartments were once filled with coloured cloisonné enamel, now lost. Each point of the star is pierced: a fine gold wire once ran through these holes, threaded with seed pearls, so that the whole star was ringed with them. This is the same construction seen on surviving Fatimid pendants and earrings.
The gold is of high purity, testing at approximately 19 to 20K throughout, and the band is original to the ring. It is a demanding piece of goldsmithing, among the most complex finger rings of the medieval Islamic world, and remarkably wearable a thousand years on.
Details: Fatimid, 11th century; Egypt, probably Cairo; gold, testing approx. 19–20K; star head 15 × 19 mm; 3.08g; UK J, US 4¾.
Condition: Good for its age and all original. The enamel, and the pearls with their wire, are lost. There are small dents and irregularities to the edges of the star, wear to the band, and old dirt in the recesses.
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