Bronze mirror with an animal-combat motif. Ghazna, Afghanistan; c. 1100. Diam: 8.5 cm. Inv. no. 71/1979. The David Collection © THE DAVID COLLECTION

The animal-combat motif is rooted in a large number of pre-Islamic cultures in the Middle East, and it is generally considered to symbolize rebirth. The powerful animal lives by killing weaker ones and in doing so gains the strength to survive in a cruel world. Particularly the lion attacking an ox has been seen as a symbol of the beginning of the new agricultural year. Both before and after the advent of Islam, the animal-combat motif was also used quite specifically to symbolize the prince’s power over his subjects.

In the decoration on the back of this hand mirror, the reference to the eternal cycle of life is very clear: a lion attacks a cow with a suckling calf. This motif, in particular, was very widespread in the medieval art of the Islamic world.

Fritware tile with a dragon in luster. Kashan, Iran; 13th century. H: 16; W: 35 cm. Inv. no. Isl 191. The David Collection. © THE DAVID COLLECTION

The dragon motif is found throughout the entire Islamic world and occurs in both early and late Islamic art. This mythical creature does not, however, symbolize the same thing in the eastern part of the Islamic region as it does in the western. While the eastern dragon has traditionally been viewed as good and auspicious, the western dragon has been considered threatening and evil.

Following the Mongols’ incursion into the Islamic world in the middle of the 13th century, the dragon was depicted like the one shown here. In keeping with Chinese tradition, the monster now has a long, serpent-like, scaly body with four legs and powerful claws. Little flame-like wings emerge from the legs and thick “whiskers” grow from the head.

Margin illustration with a simurgh from a copy of Jami’s Yusuf wa Zulaykha. Qazvin, Iran; 1557. H: 26.3; W: 15.4 cm. Inv. no. 32b/1987. The David Collection © THE DAVID COLLECTION

The mythical simurgh is related to the dragon. In an Islamic context, the simurgh is described as an enormous and auspicious bird with colorful plumage and a magnificent tail. The holy book of the

Zoroastrians, the Avesta, mentions a special bird with the head of a dog called the senmurv, which could be a precursor of the simurgh. The senmurv has its nest in the “Sacred Tree of All Seeds,” and when the gigantic bird takes flight, the seeds are spread all over the earth.

The role of the senmurv is thus closely linked with the welfare of mankind, a role that seems to have been retained in the simurgh of Islamic art.

Fritware drinking bowl in the shape of a harpy. Kashan, Iran; c. 1200. H: 16.5; L: 15 cm. Inv. no. 6/1962. The David Collection © THE DAVID COLLECTION

The harpy, which is a bird with a humanoid head, is known from Antique Greece, the ancient Middle East, and India. Like other mythical creatures in Islamic art, its development and decorative use were influenced by different traditions. In Islamic times, the harpy has been associated both with the Greek harpy, which was threatening and demonic, and with an enormous Indian bird called Garuda. The hadith literature mentions a divine mythical bird called al-Anka (the griffin), which was perfect when it was created, but in time became so bothersome that God had it banished to the ends of the Earth.

We do not know why the drinking bowl was given this shape, but the harpy often appears as a kind of guardian figure in Islamic art.

Lacquer painting on cardboard with the constellation “Sagittarius”. Iran; 19th century. H: 13.5; W: 17.5 cm. Inv. no. 10c/1991. The David Collection © THE DAVID COLLECTION

Constellations and symbolic depictions of the planets were already found in Islamic art under the first caliphs, but were especially widespread from the end of the 12th century to the early 14th. Both the Arabs and the Persians were splendid mathematicians whose studies were of great importance for astronomy. It is easy to imagine that as more knowledge was acquired about the heavenly bodies, the world of astrology gradually attracted popular interest.

Several of the animals used as signs of the zodiac are depicted in Islamic art as mythical creatures. Sagittarius, which is found here on a lacquer painting from the 19th century, is shown as a centaur with a tail ending in a dragon’s head. The dragon motif, which is also found in the sign of Gemini, should be seen as a symbol of a pseudo-planet (jawzahr). This “planet,” in turn, can be identified with the nodes of the moon, the points at which the orbits of the sun and the moon cross and where solar and lunar eclipses may occur.

Faience bowl with pseudo-calligraphy. Nishapur, Iran; 9th-10th century. H: 7.5; Diam: 26 cm. Inv. no. Isl 141. The David Collection © THE DAVID COLLECTION

Pseudo-calligraphy (illegible but decorative script) plays a symbolic role of the same kind as true calligraphy. The Arabic script, whether it can be read or not, in itself has an almost holy character. Arabic letters were used to convey God’s word to man, and even a letter-like ornament would in some contexts be viewed as a metaphor of the Divine.

Exquisite bowls like this one from Nishapur in Iran must presumably have been decorated intentionally with purely ornamental pseudo-calligraphy. There are, however, examples of similar decorations with genuine Arabic letters, but made by artists who were not completely familiar with the Arabic language.

Iron bucket with a unicorn. Iran or Syria; 13th century. H: 16.5; Diam: 21 cm. Inv. no. 20/1962. The David Collection © THE DAVID COLLECTION

The unicorn does not seem to have any clear iconographic significance in Islamic art and was generally used in large animal friezes, often in the company of other mythical creatures such as the griffin and the sphinx. The single horn on the snout of both the mythical creature and the rhinoceros was, however, highly coveted for its magical powers. It was believed that horns of this kind could detect the presence of poison and protect against misfortune. The horn was also considered a miracle drug against impotence.

The medieval Islamic conception of a unicorn, like this one, was a winged creature with the paws of a lion, a long tail, and an antelope-like head with a pointed horn. Later another one-horned mythical being was introduced, the Chinese qilin. This creature, which was decidedly auspicious, was often depicted as a deer-like or feline animal.

Tile with a sphinx. Iran; 12th-13th century. H: 7.5; L: 13.5 cm. Inv. no. 2/1971. The David collection © THE DAVID COLLECTION

When sphinxes seem to have a symbolic significance, they frequently appear as guardians of a princely personage or the Tree of Life, the ancient image of creative force and fertility.

The traditional rendition of a sphinx as a lion with a human head largely disappeared from Islamic art with the advent of the Mongols in the middle of the 13th century. A new sphinx-like figure did, however, appear later in the form of Buraq, Muhammad’s winged creature, with the body of a horse and the face of a woman.

(source: http://www.davidmus.dk)