The exhibitionMaharajas’ turban ornaments with diamonds and feathers, gold anklets, bejeweled daggers, as well as a jade hookah base feature among the more than 150 pieces included in a new take on the Al Thani collection in “East Meets West: Jewels of the Maharajas from the Al Thani Collection” by Martin Chapman. Published by Prestel last November in Europe and last December in the United States ($39.95), the book reflects the exhibition of the same title at the Legion of Honor museum of San Francisco, which ended in February. The Al Thani collection is no stranger to a book or an exhibition: It was staged at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2014, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2015 and the Doge’s Palace in Venice (where some pieces were stolen in 2018). The themes were mentioned in “Beyond Extravagance,” the 2013 book on the collection, but, Mr. Chapman said, “I pulled them out to the front in order to make the exhibition and book different.” he said. The book also has extra information on gemstones and jewelry making techniques, as, for example, “people don’t necessarily know what a spinel is, although they are hugely valuable in the market,” he said.

Source: New York Times March 22, 2019 04:52 UTC