PROBABLY IRAN, 11TH-13TH CENTURY

Although the overall form of this bracelet is unusual, its constituent elements fit with other examples known to have an Iranian origin. The dragons' heads to either side of the pin clasp, for instance, are similar to those on a bracelet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York which like our bracelet also includes a large amount of granulation in the design (acc.no.59.84). The exact arrangement of granulation, on a setting of twisted wire running the circumference of the bracelet, is more similar to a pair of bracelets in the Khalili Collection (acc.no.JLY 1219, published Jack Ogden and Michael Spink, The Art of Adornment, Oxford, 2013, no.288, p.315). The enamel panels are unusual, and in colour are comparable to an earring in the Khalili collection, there attributed to Syria, but which according to the cataloguing has evidence of a strong 'influence from the East, perhaps Iran' (Ogden and Spink, no.60, p.148).