Best in show | The Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro

“Logistics prevent many touring exhibitions from coming to Cornwall. We’re perceived as being too far away, so people presume sending shows would invariably cost a lot of money.

It is, therefore, wonderful to have the opportunity to reveal work of this exceptional quality to the people of the region. Indeed, this is the first time that items from the Courtauld Gallery’s Islamic metalwork collection have been seen outside London.

I was lucky enough to go to the Courtauld for the day to inspect these magnificent 10 pieces. Opening this handbag and peeking inside was thrilling, as the craftsmanship is so exquisite.

Inlaid with gold and silver, the bag isn’t very heavy because the main body is predominantly made from one single piece of metal that was hammered into shape. It’s also easy to forget just how old it is, as the design looks contemporary. You can imagine something similar today carrying a Louis Vuitton stamp.

The only surviving object of its kind, the bag was originally part of the collection of Thomas Gambier Parry, the Victorian amateur artist and philanthropist. The collection was bequeathed to the Courtauld in 1966.

Very little was known about the bag at the time. No one could be certain where it was from, who owned it or even how old it was. Its secrets began to be revealed, however, when researchers studied the pictogram bar around the top, which shows a powerful couple sitting together on a joint throne. From that initial clue, the bag was identified as belonging to a noblewoman of the Persian-Mongol court between 1300 and 1330.

The leading lady’s face has disappeared as the silver inlay has worn away, but it’s remarkable that the courtier standing next to her is holding a mirror, providing a reflection of the missing features.

Even more surprising is the fact that over the courtier’s shoulder hangs a bag very much like the one the scene is decorating.One of the legacies of this exhibition has been the chance for us to receive support from the Subject Specialist Network for Islamic Art and Material Culture hosted by Birmingham Museums.

They have been helpful, as I’ve been examining our own Islamic art collections which were, to put it mildly, somewhat ‘under-researched’; some of our objects were simply labelled ‘Pot, Persia’ and placed in a drawer. There was, for example, one beaker that was a beautiful example of silhouette-ware, a process in which a black coating is scraped away to reveal a turquoise glaze underneath.

When we took it out of storage, we saw it had decorative Islamic script which – when translated by an expert – revealed the beaker not only came from 14th-century Kashan, in Iran, but also shared some of the same inscription as this handbag.

Suddenly, this piece that had been stuck in a box for years gained an entirely new relevance, and is now dramatically displayed alongside the Courtauld bag in an atmospherically dark room in Truro.”

Interview by John Holt. Precious and Rare: Islamic Metalwork from the Courtauld runs until 12 January 2020 at the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro. It then tours to Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford (18 January-10 May 2020)