A rare group of Safavid niello and gem-set gold jewellery Persia, early 16th Century(22)A rare group of Safavid niello and gem-set gold jewellery Persia, early 16th Centurycomprising a bracelet, a pair of earrings, seven spherical pendants, seven drop-shaped pendants and five rings, the bracelet consisting of nine hinged elements set with turquoise and pink sapphires and decorated in niello with vegetal interlace, linked by hinged elements set with turquoise and rubies; the earrings of drop construction consisting of two gold elements set with turquoises and rubies and engraved to the reverse with vegetal interlace, suspension loops above, pendent pearls and pink sapphires below; the spherical pendants each with engraved vegetal interlace heightened with niello, suspension loops to top; the other pendants similarly decorated and set with gemstones; the rings set with inscribed carnelians and turquoises, two carnelians decorated in niello with vegetal and geometric motifs, in fitted case the bracelet 24.6cm; the earrings 11.2cm; the largest ring 2.5 cm.(22)ProvenancePreviously in a private collection since the 1980s.Inscriptions: to one ring, 'God forbid that I would take refuge in anyone other,[Because] the love of 'Ali and 'Ali's family are sufficient for me, Muhammad Nizam al-Mulk'. To another, 'Happy is the one, who like Nizam al-Mulk,has placed the seal of the love of shah-e mardan (Imam 'Ali ) on his heart'.This group presents a rare example of Safavid jewellery. Indeed, Safavid jewellery is so rare that Julian Raby writes even the former Shah's collection in Tehran does not contain works dated to earlier than the eighteenth century (Julian Raby, The Tsars and the East. Gifts from Turkey and Iran in the Moscow Kremlin, exhibition catalogue, Washington D.C., 2009, p. 6). Featuring elements that are found on the scarce items that do survive from the period, including inset rubies and turquoise and niello decoration, the present lot provides an extremely important insight into the jewellery and material culture of the Safavid period.The Safavid appreciation for jewellery is evident from documentary texts. One 17th century traveller, Sir John Chardin, writes that Persians would adorn themselves, 'with fifteen or sixteen rings upon their fingers, five or six upon one finger only' (Derek J. Content (ed.), Islamic Rings and Gems. The Zucker Collection, London, 1987, p. 118). Portuguese accounts of the courts also support a taste for precious metals. The Portuguese ambassador Tenreiro describes witnessing, 'bottles of gold and silver with turquoises and rubies inchased upon them,' during a meeting with Shah Isma'il in 1515 (R. B. Smith, The First Age of the Portuguese Embassies, Navigations and Peregrinations in Persia (1507-1524), Maryland, 1970, p. 72 quoted by James Allan, 'Early Safavid Metalwork', in Jon Thompson and Sheila R. Canby (eds.), The Hunt for Paradise, exhibition catalogue, Milan, 2003, p. 203). Shah Tahmasp too favoured precious metals, with Membrè recording, 'belt[s] of massy gold with turquoise and rubies...They also wear on their heads, upon their turbans a strip of gold with turquoise and ruby stones,' upon his visit to Iran (M. Membrè, Mission to the Lord Sophy of Persia (1539-1542), translated by A. H. Morton, London, 1993, p. 27).Safavid painting also confirms the penchant for adornment, albeit to a lesser extremity than that recorded by Sir John Chardin. For example, a folio from the Shah Tahmasp Shahnama (ca. 1525), now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Acc. No. 1970.301.7), depicts Rudaba lowering her tresses to Zal, who bears a carnelian-set ring on his finger. Such a ring is comparable to the two examples offered in our group. It is not just rings, however, that find parallels in Safavid paintings. A drawing of a kneeling youth (ca. 1580), also in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Acc. No. 1973.92), depicts him wearing drop earrings that closely resemble those included in the present lot. Earrings such as ours, featuring pendant elements comprising precious gems and pearls, are noted by Jenkins and Keene as being amongst the only known types of the period (Marilyn Jenkins and Manuel Keene, Islamic Jewellery in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982, p. 103).The preference for gold set with turquoise and rubies must have been pervasive as most of the extant examples of Safavid jewelled objects are thus set, often featuring three-dimensional fixings in the form of flower petals as seen in our bracelet (Raby, op.cit., p.5). A group of objects dated to the early 16th century, including a bowl, two bottles and a jug, in the Topkapi Saray Museum further demonstrate this tendency, supporting a similar date for the present lot (inv. nos. 2869, 2875, 2877 and 2872). A ring comparable to ours in the Sarikhani collection is also catalogued as early 16th century, featuring a similar stylised nielloed Kufic square (The Sarikhani Collection, London, 2012, pp. 84-85). This niello decoration, which profusely adorns most of the surfaces, is one of the finest decorative elements of these items. The floral cartouches to the edge of the largest ring's bezel are a slightly simplified version of the floral bands on a 16th century shield in the Armoury Museum, Moscow (Arthur U. Pope, A Survey of Persian Art, Vol. 6, London, 1939, pl.1418). They are also comparable to the vertical cartouches that flank the plaques from the belt bearing the name of Shah Ismai'il, dated AH 913/1507-08 AD, now in the Topkapi Saray Museum (no.2/1842, Thompson and Canby, op.cit., no.8.1, p. 202).The style of the rings, including the strong nasta'liq on the two round seals, along with the entirety of the jewellery offered here, is therefore consistent with the more ornate and finer decoration of the early Safavid period. Less fine examples, dated to the late 17th or early 18th century, are in the Zucker Collection (Derek J. Content (ed.), Islamic Rings and Gems. The Zucker Collection, London, 1987, pp. 132-133 & 213-214, no. 81-82). These demonstrate the simplification of ornament, which Content theorises emerged in the evolution of rings of this type, and that makes the present lot consistent instead with the early 16th Century.Important Notice to BuyersSome countries e.g., the US, prohibit or restrict the purchase by its citizens (wherever located) and/or the import of certain types of Iranian-origin works. As a convenience to buyers, Bonhams has marked with the symbol R all lots of Iranian (Persian) origin. It is each buyer's responsibility to ensure that they do not bid or import a lot in contravention of the sanctions or trade embargoes that apply to them.