How to Read Islamic Carpets

Author: Walter B. Denny
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
ISBN: 030020809X
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 146

Book Description
The engaging and accessible volume offers invaluable insights and novel perspectives on what is perhaps the most iconic of all Islamic art forms: the handwoven carpet. With a history stretching back to the fourteenth century and a geographic reach spanning Europe to Eurasia, Mongolia to the Middle East, Islamic carpets boast a degree of innovation and technical skill to rival the world's most exalted works of art. Beauty and brilliance emerge in equal measure from carpets of all forms be they colossal silk rugs exchanged as gifts by sultans and kings or small and sturdy textiles woven for use in nomadic encampments. Some sixty superlatives examples from the Metropolitan Museum's collection—from Persia, India, Turkey, North Africa, and across the Islamic world—are presented here in lavish detail, with concise and approachable texts that position each work in historical and cultural context. Beginning with a discussion of materials and techniques, How to Read Islamic Carpets offers a comprehensive introduction to this captivating art form, and reveals the lasting influence of carpet-weaving traditions in lands far beyond the Islamic world.

A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture

Author: Finbarr Barry Flood
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119068576
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 1442

Book Description
The two-volume Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture bridges the gap between monograph and survey text by providing a new level of access and interpretation to Islamic art. The more than 50 newly commissioned essays revisit canonical topics, and include original approaches and scholarship on neglected aspects of the field. This two-volume Companion showcases more than 50 specially commissioned essays and an introduction that survey Islamic art and architecture in all its traditional grandeur Essays are organized according to a new chronological-geographical paradigm that remaps the unprecedented expansion of the field and reflects the nuances of major artistic and political developments during the 1400-year span The Companion represents recent developments in the field, and encourages future horizons by commissioning innovative essays that provide fresh perspectives on canonical subjects, such as early Islamic art, sacred spaces, palaces, urbanism, ornament, arts of the book, and the portable arts while introducing others that have been previously neglected, including unexplored geographies and periods, transregional connectivities, talismans and magic, consumption and networks of portability, museums and collecting, and contemporary art worlds; the essays entail strong comparative and historiographic dimensions The volumes are accompanied by a map, and each subsection is preceded by a brief outline of the main cultural and historical developments during the period in question The volumes include periods and regions typically excluded from survey books including modern and contemporary art-architecture; China, Indonesia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sicily, the New World (Americas)

Early Islamic Textiles from Along the Silk Road

Author: Friedrich Spuhler
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 050097084X
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
A remarkable collection of textiles made in Islamic lands and traded along the Silk Road, most of which are published here for the first time. The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, holds a spectacular array of ancient textiles created in Islamic lands, mostly from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, and traded along the Silk Road, the network of ancient trade routes that linked China, Central Asia, and Byzantium for more than 1,500 years. This fascinating volume presents these Islamic pieces along with a selection of predominantly Chinese textiles dating from the Han period (25–220 CE) to the Yuan period (thirteenth– fourteenth century CE). This collection, which has remained largely unpublished until now, is a rich source of information, not only for the history of textiles, but also for the history of the Silk Road itself. Together, the exceptional beauty and variety of the garments and textile fragments reflect the many strands of influence along the Silk Road. New scientific analysis has enabled a number of these textiles to be dated with precision for the first time, making them an especially valuable scholarly resource. Early Islamic Textiles from Along the Silk Road displays an astonishing range of textile motifs, patterns, and calligraphic designs. A selection of rare intact garments vividly evokes the lives of merchants, pilgrims, and travelers, as well as the inhabitants of countries linked by the Silk Road, making this a one-of-a-kind resource.

Islamic Art

Author: Luca Mozzati
Publisher: Prestel Publishing
ISBN: 9783791344553
Category : Islamic architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
This Stunning book includes more than four hundred reproductions of treasures of Islamic art that span the world. With its large format, exquisite photographs and extensive research, this is a thorough introduction toan exceptional artistic tradition. --

Oriental Carpet Design

Author: P. R. J. Ford
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
ISBN: 9780500276648
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Book Description
"One of the most useful books to cover the whole of the field...Mr. Ford is to be congratulated on having produced a work that should stand the test of time." Carpet Review Weekly

Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Author: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
ISBN: 1588394344
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 450

Book Description
This book explores the great diversity and range of Islamic culture through one of the finest collections in the world. Published to coincide with the historic reopening of the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum's Islamic Art Department, it presents nearly three hundred masterworks created in the rich tradition of the Islamic faith and culture. The Metropolitan's renowned holdings range chronologically from the origins of Islam in the 7th century through the 19th century, and geographically from as far west as Spain to as far east as Southeast Asia.

A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art

Author: Christopher Alexander
Publisher: New York : Oxford University Press
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Book Description
Christopher Alexander owns what many now believe to be the finest collection of early Turkish carpets in the western world, with perhaps half being the only specimens of their kind anywhere. In this richly illustrated, oversized volume--featuring four hundred illustrations, eighty in full color--Alexander takes readers on an engaging tour of his fabulous collection. Readers will see a 13th-century Seljuk Carpet with Dragons, a 15th-century Animal Carpet, a scarlet-niched Transylvanian Prayer Rug, a turquoise Lattice Carpet from Alcaraz, a 16th-century blue Medallion Keyhole Design from Bergama, a rare 16th-century White Field Bird Carpet, the dazzling color and brilliant geometry of a 15th-century Karapinar with Three Gulls, and perhaps Alexander's favorite, a 15th-century Star Karapinar with Flowers (whose designs he describes as "the high point of all Sufi art, the state of liberation, in which the artist is so free, that he is able to be completely natural"). In addition, Alexander elaborates on his theory that these carpets teach structure to artists and architects through the beauty of their form. This lavishly produced volume makes an important contribution to the world of rug scholarship. Equally important, Alexander's thoughtful meditations on these pieces will fascinate the many architects, artists, and planners who follow his work.

Knots, Art & History

Author: Anna Beselin
Publisher: Skira Editore
ISBN: 9788857239125
Category : Rugs, Oriental
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Book Description
Anyone who thinks of carpets has the bright colours of the Orient in mind. Knots, Art & History brings together the best, most unique carpets of the 14th-17th centuries from the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin's famous collection. Forty-five of the approximately 500 carpets from Spain, Egypt, Anatolia, the Ottoman Empire, the Caucasus, Persia and India represent the reunited collection for the first time in English. The catalogue presents the eventful history of the collection. With the beginning of research on Islamic art around 1900, and especially with Wilhelm von Bode's groundbreaking research on carpets, the Berlin Collection became the center of international investigations. European painting was a focus here and Wilhelm von Bode's dating method using paintings made the "Berlin School" known worldwide and influenced generations of researchers. The tragic loss of almost all large Persian rugs during World War II marked a turning point for the collection, and the subsequent Cold War division of the collection significantly disrupted further studies of and appreciation for the Berlin carpet collection. Following the reunification of Germany, the former East and West Berlin collections were again joined, and Berlin carpet collection shines again. Stunning illustrations and numerous details allow new insights and open up the peculiarities of each individual piece in the catalog section. This includes almost all exhibited carpets and is organised by chronology, geography and design motifs. A general introduction to each of the 9 chapters provides an overview of the historical, cultural and social context of each rug. Receiving special mention are the classical Anatolian carpets the ever-popular Persian examples, including the Persian animal carpets, the Mamluk carpets, and the niche or prayer carpets. Additional comparisons with other surviving rugs from private and public collections enhance the explanations and place the collection in an international context. Through detailed analysis and comparison, this book establishes the exceptional quality and uniqueness of many carpets including, the famous Dragon- Phoenix Carpet, the so-called Synagogue Carpet and the Indian Flower Carpet.

Symbols of Power

Author: Louise W. Mackie
Publisher: Cleveland Museum of Art Bookstore
ISBN: 9780300206098
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Book Description
A lavishly illustrated, authoritative presentation of the history of Islamic luxury textiles

Islamic Art and Architecture

Author: Henri Stierlin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780500511008
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 319

Book Description
More than five hundred full-color illustrations and reproductions capture a panoramic array of Islamic art and architecture in a study that examines the sources, forms, themes, and symbolism of Islamic artistry, as exemplified in mosques, palaces, landscape architecture, caligraphy, miniature painting, tapestries and textiles, and other artforms.