FOUR GOLDEN HORDE TURQUOISE-SET GOLD FILIGREE BUTTONS
Possibly Asia Minor, modern-day Crimea or Qipchaq steppe, Central Asia, first half 14th century

Each in the shape of a lobed floral medallion with split ends, made of gold sheet and wire, box-constructed with sheet back panels, openwork side walls, and spiral filigree in the front, each encrusted with an unevenly shaped turquoise bead in a high collar setting (one missing) in the centre, surrounded by four equidistant circular holes, possibly once used to string the buttons on a thread, reserved against a ground of spiral gold filigree producing minute vegetal scrolls, the edging embellished with a flattened band of paired rope design, the sheet back plain, each 2.1cm x 2cm.

For an almost identical set of gold filigree garment appliqués from the ‘Simferopol hoard’ attributed to Eastern Anatolia and Asia Minor and dating to the first half of the 14th century, please see M. B. Piotrovskii, Sokrovishcha Zoloti Ordy (The Treasures of the Golden Horde), exhibition catalogue, 2000, p. 314, cat. 476 – 478.

For a broader discussion on gold filigree jewellery and the history of the Golden Horde, please refer to lot 377.