The Treasures of Islam.(Brief Article)

Ever since the attacks of September 11, Islam is in. New York's Metropolitan Museum, never one to follow trends, presciently anticipated the interest this fall with two major international Islamic exhibits, both of which are about to go on the road. They seem to mock the austerity of Osama bin Laden and obliterate the toughness of the Taliban with their sumptuousness, refinement and sheer opulence. In the face of the otherworldliness of Islam's spirituality and the disadvantaged economies of Muslim countries, the shows highlight the culture's rich secular past and the glory of its unabashed materialism in its esthetic heyday in South Asia.

Organized by the Met, "'Treasury of the World': Jeweled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals," opened in Britain, then went to New York with its 300 spectacular jeweled objects from India's Mughal period (1526-1858). (It travels next to Cleveland, Ohio; Houston, Texas, and St. Louis, Missouri.) The exhibit's title is taken from a 1616 letter to Prince Charles (later King Charles I) from Sir Thomas Roe, English ambassador to the Delhi court, describing the Emperor Jahangir: "In jewells (which is one of his felicityes) he is the treasury of the world." For three decades that treasury has been in the Kuwait National Museum's extensive al-Sabah Collection. Removed during the gulf war and transported in metal trunks to the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, it was recovered with the United Nations' help.

What the Met has showcased is a glittering visual smorgasbord: rubies, emeralds, sapphires, diamonds and pearls all set in the purest 24-karat gold, using an ancient and innovative Indian technique called kundan, which eliminates the need for heating and hammering. Jewelers are thus freed to create intricate designs in bracelets, necklaces, rings and hair and turban ornaments; swords, scabbards, daggers and other objects of daily use such as cups and boxes. Stylistically, the decorative patterns echo the vines, flowers, animals and calligraphic swirls found in other media such as Persian and Indian miniatures, monumental architecture with its delicate inlay work (the most famous example being the marble interiors of the Taj Mahal), and antique Indian and Persian carpets. Not surprisingly, these classical influences survive in today's Oriental rugs and in metalwork from the Middle East and South Asia.

But many of the pieces in the exhibit ...