The Lands of the Surah Collection

The « Lands of the Surah » collection is an evocation of the spread of Islam, commissioned by the Freer Sackler Museum Shop to accompany the Smithsonian Qur’an exhibition. Each piece mixes vintage and modern beads, from countries in Africa, Asia, Arabia and the Middle East where a significant part of the population shares the Quran holy book as a source of faith and knowledge.
Each piece is unique, and the collection limited to 50 numbered pieces.

La collection « Lands of the Surah »

Cette Collection « Lands of the Surah » - Les Pays de la Sourate - évoque l’étendue géographique de l’Islam, en miroir d’une Grande exposition sur le Coran, à travers des perles anciennes et traditionnelles provenant de pays où le Livre Saint est vénéré par une grande partie de la population, comme source de sagesse et de foi. Les éléments utilisés proviennent d’Afrique, d’Asie, d’Arabie et du Moyen Orient.
Collection de pièces uniques, commanditée pour accompagner l’exposition sur le Coran du Musée Freer Sackler Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC et présentée dans la Boutique du Musée.

LOTS 12 : LB
This piece combines black and white clay beads from Nigeria; fish vertebrae and coconut disks from Senegal; beaded rings from rural Afghanistan; metal beads from Turkey; and, a vintage tubular bead with chains and a pendant from Syria.

LOTS 1 : UB
Clay beads : Modern, handcrafted in Nigeria.Beaded ringlets : Made by women in made in rural Afghanistan. Glass seed beads most likely to be from India, sewn into a cotton core.Red glass beads : Senegal.Metal elements : Vintage from traditional Turkmen and Afghan necklaces.

LOTS 14 : LI
This piece combines a leather rope, hand made on the banks of the Niger River in Northern Mali, and a wooden pendant from rural Afghanistan, traditionally used for protection.

LOTS 19 : STI
This piece combines elements of a silver ottoman belt, part of ottoman horse equipment, and modern cotton tassels and wool rope, hand crafted in rural Anatolia.

LOTS 22 : SIB
This piece combines leather ropes hand made on the banks of the Niger River in Northern Mali, a wooden pendant from rural Afghanistan, traditionally used for protection, vintage round shell beads from India, seeds from Senegal and silver thread and small silver beads from the workshops of Istanbul.

LOTS 3 : TI
Earings with Mordern Elements from :
- Senegal : brown and grey seeds
- Niger : Clay beads- India : semi-precious stone and agate
- Turkey: silver beads, crochet flowers
- Afghanistan : Lapis lazuli
Vintage element from :
- Turkmesnistan : chains, bells and leaf-shaped pendants
- Afghanistan : beaded rings mounted on cotton
- Syria : leaf-shaped pendants

LOTS 11 : LB
This piece combines a large agate pendant, made in India for export to West Africa - Nigeria, Niger, Senegal - with flat and round vintage shell beads and modern navy blue glass beads from India and hand crafted beaded rings from rural areas of Afghanistan.

LOTS 18 : LI
This piece combines :
- A Late 20th century barrel-shaped bone bead from Indonesia,
- Late 19th to early 20th century colonial glass beads, manufactured in Europe, sourced in Burkina Faso,
- Coconut disks and black prayer beads from Senegal,
- A vintage stone central piece, from the bazaar of Esfahan.

LOTS 4 : TI
Earings with Mordern Elements from :
- Senegal : brown and grey seeds
- Niger : Clay beads
- India : semi-precious stone and agate
- Turkey: silver beads, crochet flowers
- Afghanistan : Lapis lazuli
Vintage element from :
- Turkmesnistan : chains, bells and leaf-shaped pendants
- Afghanistan : beaded rings mounted on cotton
- Syria : leaf-shaped pendants

LOTS 16 : DB
This piece combines :
- a vintage silver central element from Turkey,
- early 20th century blue glass Anatolian beads,
- vintage silver beads from Turkmenistan,
- modern navy blue glass beads from India,
- modern silver beads from Istanbul workshops,
- a silk ruff. Such ruffs are hand crafted by Greek artisans, following the centuries old tradition of passementerie, that is slowly disappearing as tastes have evolved from the 18th and 19th centuries when such elements were an essential part of costumes and indoor furniture.

LOTS 20 : LI
Central silver bead : vintage hair ornament worn by Mauritanian women.
Long black bead : vintage bead, likely from colonial trade, Nigeria.
Small silver cylinders : modern, Istanbul workshops.
Coconut disks and large brown seed: Senegal.
Metal chains, bells and twisted elements : vintage from traditional Turkmen and Afghan necklaces.
Red glass beads : modern, from India.
Black seed beads : modern, from India.

LOTS 2 : UII
A composite piece created from :
- A late 19th to early 20th century silver pendant with lapis lazuli and coral elements, mounted on a silver chain. A box for safe keeping a protective Surat. The lid was missing when I found it in Bangladesh.
- In Istanbul, I asked a jeweler to recreate the lid. From his collection of elements of antique and vintage broken pieces, he selected some antique glass and lapis lazuli which he set on a 19th century lid.
- I added a silver 19th century pendant to the bottom ring as I felt this would have been the original intention for this piece.

LOTS 15 : GI
This piece combines a vintage silver bead and a modern lapis lazuli man's ring from Turkey, beaded rings from Afghanistan and a silk ruff. Such ruffs are hand crafted by Greek artisans, following the centuries old tradition of passementerie, that is slowly disappearing as tastes have evolved from the 18th and 19th centuries when such elements were an essential part of costumes and indoor furniture.

LOTS 13 : DI
This piece combines :
- Medieval Indian agate beads from Cambay, which reached Africa via Arab merchants criss-crossing the deserts on camels
- Vintage shell beads from India
- Vintage oblong shell beads used as hair ornament by Mauritanian women
- Vintage metal chains and trinkets from Syria - Modern silver beads from Istanbul workshops.

LOTS 17 : LB
This piece combines :
- A central shell pendant: Mid-20th century hair ornament from Mauritania,
- Modern agate cylinders, made in India for export to West Africa,
- Vintage shell beads from India, - Clay beads from Nigeria,
- Coconut disks and seed beads from Senegal,
- Two late 20th century golden elements, handmade from copper thread and golden cotton in Mali to imitate the traditional gold jewelry worn by nobility.

LOTS 23 : GI
This piece combines :
- 3 engraved vintage bakelite pendants, from the Bazar of Ispahan, Iran .
- Clay beads from Niger.
- Glass beads from India.
- Copper beads from Afghanistan.