Author
Caroline Stone
Caroline Stone divides her time between Cambridge and Seville. Her latest book, Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness, translated with Paul Lunde from the medieval Arab accounts of the lands in the Far North, was published in 2011 by Penguin Classics.
Articles by this author
The Westward Journeys of Buttons
Arts
History
We all use them. Most fasten; some decorate. A search for origins points toward the Indus Valley and China. By the Middle Ages, buttons reached Europe along with other garment techniques and fashion influences from lands east. Their stories are as interwoven as the textiles they make possible and as varied as their infinite designs.
The Great Migration of the Bani Hilal
Arts
History
In the 10th century, herders fled drought in Arabia, but the sultan of Egypt used them against his rivals. Their story went viral—oral-folklore style—as Sirat Bani Hilal, or the Romance of the People of the Crescent Moon.
The Art of the Dowry Chest
Arts
History
Wooden chests have been carved, painted, studded with metals and inlaid with colorful woods and mother-of-pearl for centuries, producing heirlooms from West Africa to the Middle East, India and Indonesia. Many of the most elaborate ones were produced to hold a woman’s dowry.
花嫁の収納箱に施されたアート
Arts
History
きれいに塗装され、彫刻が施され、金属の鋲が打たれ、きれいな木材や真珠のインレイが施された木製の収納箱は、西アフリカから中東、インド、およびインドネシアにおいて、代々伝わる家宝となってきました。中でも最も手の込んだものは、女性’の花嫁道具として生産されてきました。