September saw the opening of the first museum of Islamic art
in North America. It’s the
Aga Khan Museum in Toronto with a collection of over
one thousand artefacts in ceramic, metalwork, stone and wood, textile and
carpet, glass and rock crystal objects, parchment and illustrated paintings on
paper. The Museum’s goal is to demystify Islam through increasing knowledge and
appreciation of Islamic art by presenting an overview of the artistic
accomplishments of Muslim civilisations from the Iberian Peninsula to China.
The Islamic period began with the rapid rise of Islam in the
7th century AD. The religion's founder, the Prophet Muhammad, was a political
leader as well as a religious guide. By 750, his successors had established a
vast empire which stretched from Spain and Morocco in the west to Central Asia
and Afghanistan in the east.
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Bronze oil lamp, Afghanistan. Kofic writing, 12th century. Offered by Bakhtar Art |
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Islamic ceramic soup bowl, Afghanistan, Bamyan, 12th century, offered by Bakhtar Art |
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Agate pendant, Arabic engraving, 18th-19th century. Offered by Bakhtar Art |
Closer to home in London, at the
V&A Museum, the
JameelGallery,
houses 400 objects including
ceramics, textiles, carpets, metalwork, glass and woodwork. The collection
explains the development of Islamic art production from the great dates of the
Islamic caliphate of the 8
th century up to the First World War.
Geographically, it covers an area from Spain to Uzbekistan.
The V&A holds more than 19,000 objects
ranging from the early Islamic Period to the 1920s, from Iran, Turkey, Iraq,
Syria, Egypt, and the countries of North Africa and has a ceramic collection
which is internationally the most important and comprehensive of its kind.
Islamic art is at the forefront of the origins of nineteenth
century English decorative arts. In Victorian Britain, retailers sold a range
of goods imported from the Islamic world providing a source of inspiration for
art work that was seeking to break away from the historic European styles
dominating British art at the time.
William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement were greatly influenced by Islamic designers because they were
particularly expert at producing surface patterns. Colour and form were to be
placed above any type of realism.
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12th century bronze stirrup, engraved with Kofic writing, offered by Bakhtar Art |
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Islamic bronze pendant, Kofic description, 12th century, offered by Bakhtar Art |
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Spanish Islamic Hispano-Moresque charger, 16th century, offered by Antique Choices |
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Zand period (1750-1794) brass Huqa base, Persia, offered by Antique Choices |
With its approach to flat surfaces and use of colour
schemes, the Movement had a great appeal across the disciplines. Many saw that
the principles behind the Islamic decorative arts system was an effective way
of producing contemporary pattern work, because Islamic designers seemed to
have an innate understanding of the materials used and the medium of surface
decoration, and approach to colour and tone.
Ultimately, it was the non-representational, flat and
graphic aspect of Islamic art that captivated the Victorian vanguard and was
developed on printed textiles, woven carpets, wallpaper design and ceramic tile
work. This perspective on the decorative arts took on an aspect that eventually
proved to be amongst the building blocks of Modernism.
Islamic art at Grays is varied in terms of geographic origins
and covers most areas of material production from textiles to wood, glass to
metal and most areas of artistic expression, books, paintings, coins,
jewellery, tiles and sculpture, and more.
Written by Titika Malkogeorgou
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