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).
Artist Islamic, Iranian
Title
  • Ring inscribed "Blessing"
Date 1100s
Medium gold, turquoise, and black compound
Dimensions Overall: 1 1/4 × 5/8 inches (3.2 × 1.6 cm)
Credit Line Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mrs. Charles C. Andrews
Accession Number 1993.69
Department Islamic Art
On View Islamic N120, Level 1 (see map)
Inscriptions 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.).