Notice

From 9/20 through 9/23, visitors may only enter through the John R entrance. All other entrances, plus the museum grounds, Kirby St and Farnsworth St will be closed during this time for Concours d'Elegance.

Ring inscribed "Blessing", 1100s

  • Islamic, Iranian

Gold, turquoise, and black compound

  • Overall: 1 1/4 × 5/8 inches (3.2 × 1.6 cm)

Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mrs. Charles C. Andrews

1993.69

On View

  • Islamic N120

Department

Islamic Art

The Seljuks fashioned much of their jewelry from sheet metal and embellished it with stones. Heavy claws hold a turquoise on a high, truncated bezel that is decorated with engraved leafy arabesques and a Kufic inscription (“blessing”), picked out in niello (a mixture of gold, silver, lead, and copper sulfides).

Inscribed, side: al-baraka [translated: blessing]

(Said Motamed, Frankfurt, Germany)

1993-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Henshaw, Julia P., ed. A Visitors Guide: The DIA. Detroit, 1995, p. 123 (ill.).

Islamic, Iranian, Ring inscribed "Blessing", 1100s, gold, turquoise, and black compound. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mrs. Charles C. Andrews, 1993.69.