Abstract
Early Islamic Decorative Technique THE first occasion on which it has been possible to analyse early Islamic nielle is recorded in connexion with a group of objects in the precious metals said to have been dug up at Nibavand, a city of Persian Iraq, by Mr. Basil Gray (Brit. Mus. Quarterly, 13, 3; 1939). The group in question has recently been acquired by the British Museum (Bloomsbury). Apart from its value as an addition to the collections, its importance is the greater because of the extreme scarcity of objects with precious metals from Islamic lands, where there are no tomb burials, and successive invasions caused widespread destruction. The find consisted of forty pieces, of which thirty-nine are of silver, nearly all enriched with. gilding and nielle, while one, the most considerable in size, is of gold. This latter is a wine bowl decorated with engraved roundels and an inscription in Arabic around the out-side of the lip. Among the silver pieces are two series of plates which formerly decorated leather belts, two beads, a small circular plaque, a butt of a halberd possibly, and four other inscribed objects, as well as some fragments of buckles. The style unmistakably points to the Soljuk period. Epigraphic and stylistic evidence alike suggest the latter part of the twelfth century. Dr. Plonderleith reports after examination that there are microscopic particles of white metal embedded in the gold of the bowl; no iron is present and the particles are non-magnetic. They are extremely hard and there is good reason to regard them as iridium. Spectrographic examination of the nielle indicates the presence of copper, silver, gold, tin, lead, with traces of aluminium, potassium, magnesium and boron. Analysis of filling taken from one of the small fragments of silver, reveals the presence also of sulphur. The composition of this nielle is, therefore, probably the same as Western nielle, in antiquity according to Pliny, in the Renaissance period according to ‘Cellini.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Research Items. Nature 144, 912–913 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144912a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144912a0