An international jewel theft on a grand scale took place last year when Iraq looted the Kuwait National Museum of Islamic art objects from the 7,000-piece collection of Sheikh Nasser Sabah. Among the missing treasures are two 17th-century Mogul emeralds (one of 234 carats and another of 179.60 carats), and a magnificent 520-carat Burmese sapphire. The plundered treasure may never be recovered.
A lucky twist of fate, however, saved 107 objects from the priceless collection. They were in Leningrad on exhibit last summer when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Planned long before the invasion, the exhibition “Islamic Art and Patronage: Treasures from Kuwait” began its North American tour last December at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland. The display includes illustrated and illuminated manuscripts, ceramics, glass, metalwork, stonework, textiles, rugs, and jewelry that represent ten centuries of Islamic art.
By the time the current tour of the exhibition ends in April of 1992, Kuwait may have had time to provide an adequate facility to replace the destroyed museum. The whereabouts of the art plundered by Iraq is likely to remain a mystery. It was a fortunate accident that 107 pieces were out of the country at the time of the invasion.