The Nuhad Es-Said collection, arguably the finest collection of Islamic metalwork in private hands, consists of twenty-seven inlaid brass, bronze, and steel objects dating from the tenth to the nineteenth century. Fountains of Light: Islamic Metalwork from the Nuhad Es-Said Collection, the first exhibition of this superb group of objects in the United States, provides an in-depth view of the history of inlaid metalwork from its inception in Iran and present-day Afghanistan and Uzbekistan to its later development in Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Anatolia (present-day Turkey).

The art of metalwork has been one of the principal forms of artistic expression in the Islamic world. Responding to the taste and needs of different social and economic classes, artists continuously explored the technical and decorative potential of their materials to transform simple, functional objects into highly refined works of art. While silver and gold objects were produced, relatively few have survived, as they were among the first to be melted down during times of political and economic upheaval.

In the late tenth century, metalworkers in eastern Iran began to manufacture brass and bronze objects inlaid with designs in gold, silver, and copper. This technique allowed metalworkers to "paint" their vessels with scenes of hunting and feasting—associated with courtly life—astrological signs, and bold calligraphic dedications to rulers. Although the art of inlay was already known in West Asia since at least the sixth century, it reached new levels of artistic and technical sophistication after the arrival of Islam. These vessels are among some of the most powerful expressions of the social, political, and cultural life and aspiration of the individuals and societies for which they were created.