The influence of Moroccan jewelry on the Islamic world is a major focus of “Splendors of the Atlas: A Voyage Through Morocco’s Heritage,” on display through March 8 at the Museum of Islamic Art, also known as M.I.A.
The exhibition — the largest showing of Qatar Years of Culture, a program that, this year, featured cultural exchanges between the two countries — comprises approximately 200 artifacts, including vintage photographs, pottery and a 17th-century Quran in ink, watercolor and gold.
But the 56 pieces of jewelry on display, from the amber and coral necklaces of the remote southern tribes to the silver-heavy jewelry made in the Atlas Mountains, may best embody the exhibition’s vision.
“What makes Moroccan jewelry stand out is its diversity, because it does not just have one pattern or one background since each tribe developed its own kind of jewelry,” said Zainab Diouri, who was a consultant on the M.I.A. exhibition and is the deputy conservator at the Udayas Museum, also known as the National Museum of Adornment, in Rabat, Morocco. “When you see jewelry from different Moroccan areas, you can’t tell even if it’s from the same country. Much of it reflected the available resources and the social status of the tribe.”
Several museums in Morocco lent items for the exhibition, which also displays about two dozen pieces from M.I.A.’s permanent collection, including some never shown before, such as an Alawite headdress decorated with golden plaques and precious stones.
Other jewelry highlights include: a necklace made of carved niello, or blackened, silver with coral, amazonite and amber beads; a carved amber necklace; and a labba necklace of enameled gold with diamonds, rubies and sapphires, from the 18th or 19th century.
“It’s very difficult to date jewelry, especially from North Africa, mainly because there hasn’t been so much research and scientific analysis done on it,” Mounia Chekhab Abudaya, M.I.A.’s deputy director of curatorial affairs and the exhibition’s curator, said in the spring as she and her team were preparing it. “Jewelry makers would continue to produce jewelry with traditional craftsmanship and techniques. You also have a large market of commissions to Europe and other parts of North Africa. It’s hard to say what was commissioned and what was just inspired.”
Coins were a big part of jewelry design, she said, noting that they were integrated into brooches, earrings, headdresses and necklaces.
“A lot of these coins would have been Spanish coins, which shows a lot of the transfer and exchange between both sides of the Mediterranean, dating from at least the 12th century and even all the way back to the beginning of Islam,” she said. “Coins were very valuable.”
Miryam Labiad, the founder of Mimia LeBlanc Jewelry in Morocco, was commissioned by the Years of Culture organization to create three pendants, inspired by Moroccan jewelry and each about 4 inches by 5 inches, to celebrate the opening of the exhibition.
“I always have this beautiful reaction from people whenever I’m wearing Moroccan jewelry or dresses,” Ms. Labiad said in a video interview, “so I wanted to show my culture and heritage.
“For this commission,” she said, “I thought: Why not stick to one design from the south of Morocco among the Amazigh Berber tribe.”
The first pendant was made of turquoise, coral, lapis, gray diamonds, cabochon rubies and a mother-of-pearl inlay; the second, incorporated a vintage coin with the face of Mohammed V, the grandfather of the current king, Mohammed VI. The third piece is an ancient Moroccan design in the shape of a phoenix, made of gold and diamonds, opals and sapphires.
“All Moroccan jewelry is extravagant and very complicated and handmade, with lots of stones,” she said. “Six other people helped me, and it took three months.”
For Ms. Diouri, such a collaborative effort reflects the exhibition’s focus: “Moroccan jewelry and costumes have been a huge influence on the world since at least the 18th century,” she said. “We see it in Delacroix’s paintings. We see it in haute couture by Yves Saint Laurent, who lived in Marrakesh.
“And we still wear those big, magnificent jewels. The craftsmanship is still there. It reaches Qatar and beyond.”
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