Lot 25
THREE FINE SELJUK GOLD AND NIELLO RINGS
PERSIA OR CENTRAL ASIA, 12TH/ 13TH CENTURY
Auction: 10 December 2025 from 14:00 GMT
Description
three rings, the first with a square bezel with a central medallion containing a seal inscription in reverse, inscriptions around the edge, the background of niello, the second with a hexagonal bezel with arabesque and similar arabesques on the shank, the third with a hexagonal bezel with plain hexagon at centre bordered with arabesques on a niello background
Dimensions
24.8gr.
Provenance
Formerly, from a UK collection formed in the 1960s.
Footnote
Rings of this type are typical products of the Seljuk period, which are characterised by the tapering shanks, polygonal bezels, inscriptions around the outer edge of the bezel, niello backgrounds, and leafy arabesques in high relief. All these elements are seen on the present rings as well as a fine example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. no. 2007.344) which is decorated with a resting lion (see S. R. Canby et al, Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016, p. 103). Rings of this type do not appear to have been common in the Islamic world until the 12th century, although their prototypes are found in Greek and Roman jewellery (see K. Jenkins and M. Keene, Islamic Jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1983, p. 61).