Spotlight on Jewellery: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia
At the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, jewellery from across the Islamic world whispers stories of shahs and the journeys of nomads roaming distant steppes and deserts.
Sense of Wander: ★★★★★
The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia is home to a stunning collection of Mughal jewellery.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Many know the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM) as one of the most significant repositories of Islamic art in the world. Its vast collection feels almost like stepping into a living textbook of Islamic art history, where centuries of creativity and devotion are gathered under one roof.
Islamic art embraces many forms — from architecture to ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, and wood. As a jewellery designer, my attention is inevitably drawn to the exquisite pieces in the museum’s Jewellery Gallery. Modest in scale but rich in depth, it brings together ornaments that once adorned the turbans of emperors, alongside bangles and amulets carried by desert nomads. While writing my earlier article, Wander in Malaysia: Highlights of Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, I felt compelled to write a full article to the museum’s jewellery collection.
It’s worth remembering that the word “Islamic” here does not mean that these objects were religious in themselves. Rather, it reflects the broad cultural and artistic worlds shaped by Muslim craftsmen and dynasties across time and place.
Jewellery in the Islamic world carried meaning as much as beauty — the Quran speaks of gold, silver, and pearls, and describes “bracelets of gold” as rewards in paradise. At the same time, stigma attached to goldsmiths, noted in Hadith, left some Muslims hestitant to pursue the profession.
Inside the museum’s Jewellery Gallery, an exquisite selection of jewellery and gem-studded objects, mostly from 19th and 20th-century India, is on display.
The museum’s jewellery collection spans North Africa, Iran, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Surviving examples from the early periods are rare — precious metals were often melted and repurposed — but the IAMM preserves fine Fatimid (909-1171) and Seljuk (1037-1194) pieces. Still, it is the splendour of later dynasties, especially the Mughal emperors, descendants of Timur and Genghis Khan who rose to power in 1526, that continues to dazzle visitors the most.
At its zenith in the early 18th century, the Mughals ruled vast swathes of the Indian subcontinent, including Afghanistan. Beyond their grand architectural achievements (see Wander in India: In the Footsteps of the Mughals), they are celebrated for their exquisite taste in jewellery, marking perhaps the most luminous chapter in the history of Islamic adornment.
Miniature paintings from the Mughal era reveal shahs bedecked in multiple strands of pearls interspersed with rubies and emeralds, bracelets, armlets, rings, earrings, and turban ornaments. In Mughal India, men were more enthusiastic wearers of jewellery than in much of the Islamic world.
The Mughals valued precious stones, and emperors personally selected each gem, ensuring it met their discerning eye. Spinels were especially prized: their deep rose-red hue, known as “bala rubies,” and exceptional clarity made them perfect for engraving. Sourced from Badakhshan in Afghanistan, these stones are beautifully displayed in a remarkable pearl necklace featuring seven polished baroque spinels, each inscribed with the titles of Mughal emperors in Persian.
This pearl necklace, accented with seven spinels, is the showstopper of the Jewellery Gallery.
The rare and highly-prized “Bala rubies” were fittingly carved with the royal title of Shah Ahmad [son of] Durduran.
To retain maximum weight, gemstones were often minimally cut, either as cabochons or baroque beads, preserving their natural forms. The art of cutting and setting gems reached its pinnacle in the hands of Indian jewellers, whose skill was cherished in the royal ateliers.
Mughal jewellery is renowned for its kundan setting, where pure 24-carat gold is worked around the contours of each stone and set directly into the cavity between stone and bezel. In the gallery, many pieces display diamonds set in this technique.
What fascinates me about Mughal jewellery is the care given to its hidden surfaces. I recall handling some pieces a decade ago and being moved by the meticulous attention given to their backs. A specialist explained that for the Mughals, the surface touching the skin was intimate and deserving of decoration.
Enamel works found on the back of Mughal jewellery often feature floral motifs in red and green against white — a colour palette echoed in the front-facing use of diamonds and pearls (white), spinels (red), and emeralds (green). Pearls, in particular, carry significance in Islam, frequently mentioned in the Quran.
The Mughal aesthetic endured beyond their empire. In 19th-century Hyderabad, under the Nizams of the Asaf Jahi Dynasty (1724–1948), turban ornaments were marked by lavish gemstones and enamelled floral motifs — a natural continuation of the Mughal’s artistic legacy.
The front of this turban ornament is set with diamonds, while dangling spinel drops would have swayed with each of the wearer’s steps.
The back of this turban ornament is adorned with intricate enamel, depicting floral motifs in white, red, and green.
In addition to the court jewellery of the Indian subcontinent, the Jewellery Gallery also presents the adornments of Qajar Iran (1794–1925) and the Ottoman Dynasty (1299-1922). While Qajar jewellery is often celebrated for its vivid enamelwork, particularly in shades of pink, my attention is drawn instead to a necklace that whispers a humbler, more intimate, side of this tradition.
Strung with turquoise in tear-drop, oval, rectangular, and octagonal shapes, the necklace bears delicate engravings — calligraphic inscriptions and floral motifs. Some contain traces of gold inlay, while others shimmer only faintly with its memory. The inscriptions are Persian poems rendered in elegant Nasta’liq script:
May I be your ransom
[May I] be sacrificed for your coquetry
May I be your ransom, O beloved!
[May] I be sacrificed for you, O beloved!
Dated to 19th-century Iran, this piece carries a poetic, almost raw aesthetic, standing in contrast to the grandeur of Qajar court jewels. It reminds us that jewellery can impress through subtle beauty, not just opulence.
Dated to 19th-century Iran, this turquoise necklace bears an inscription of a Persian poem, blending artistry with literary elegance.
Nearby, a display case presents an array of jewellery and bejeweled objects from Ottoman Turkey, spanning the 16th to 20th centuries. From turban ornaments, medals, and pendants to everyday items such as spoons, pipes, mirrors, and boxes, each piece carries a story of artistry.
Many bear the mark of European craftsmanship, reflecting the increased diplomatic and cultural exchanges from the 18th century onward. Among them, an octagonal cigarette box catches my attention: a tughra — the calligraphic signature and seal of Ottoman sultans — adorned with diamonds in prong settings, showcases the fusion of Ottoman tradition and cosmopolitan sophisitication.
Dated 1876–1882, this cigarette box features an Ottoman tughra set with diamonds.
The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia also collects ethnic and tribal jewellery, a category often overlooked in the discourse of Islamic adornment. Stretching from the deserts of North Africa to the steppes of Central Asia, these pieces speak of local traditions and aesthetics, each reflecting the singular beauty of its origin.
A 19th-century gold tiara, or taj, from Morocco, carries a rich palette of gemstones and enamel, reflecting the local Amazigh traditions. Each stone was chosen not only for its colour but also for its symbolic meaning. Near the top, an engraved band reads, “Glory is for God and for His Messenger.” Such a tiara would likely have been a bridal dowry, worn as a headdress on the wedding day.
This gold taj (tiara) from 19th-century Morocco is embellished with enamels and coloured gemstones.
Another case presents Turkmen jewellery, made by the Turkic tribes of Central Asia, particularly Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Gilt-silver pieces set with agates, carnelians, or red glass evoke a nomadic tradition of personal adornment that stretches from the Sahara Desert to the Eurasian Steppe.
While I had seen these treasures in books before, encountering them in person is an entirely different experience. The sheer scale alone is astonishing: the pendant of a hanging chest piece exceeds the size of my upper torso, while the pectoral plates are larger than my palm.
The gallery also displays silver containers from the Malay Archipelago, used for holding betel nuts. Though not jewellery per se, one container stands out — its surface adorned with niello, a black inlay that contrasts beautifully with the silver. Its strap is decorated with intricate beadwork reminiscent of indigenous geometric designs, accented with bronze bells that would jingle softly when carried. These objects offer insight into the techniques and aesthetics that helped shaping the region’s jewellery-making traditions.
The IAMM’s jewellery collection allows visitors to appreciate the full breadth of Islamic jewellery — from the grandeur of imperial parure to the unique artistry of tribal adornments. Together, these pieces tell a of creativity, heritage, and cultural exchange across centuries and continents once touched by Islamic civilisations.
The IAMM’s jewellery collection allows visitors to appreciate the full breadth of Islamic jewellery — from the grandeur of imperial parure to the intimate artistry of tribal adornments. Together, these pieces trace currents of creativity, heritage, and cultural exchange across centuries and continents once touched by Islamic civilisations.
This display offers a window into the jewellery traditions of Turkic tribes across the Eurasian Steppe.
This betel nut container from the Malay Archipelago is beautifully decorated with niello and colourful beadwork.
Wanderer’s Tips — Jewellery enthusiasts planning their trip may also want to visit the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) in Singapore, which houses select Islamic jewellery alongside its extraordinary collection of Southeast Asian adornments.
Reference:
Dowe, B. Y. (2009). Jewellery of the Islamic World: An Introduction (L. de Guise, Ed.). Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia
Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia. (2020). Mirrors of Beauty: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia Guide. Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia