Art Islamique/Islamic art

Tabby-woven textile, linen with inlaid pattern wefts of wool and linen, Egypt or Syria, late 7th-early 8th century, H: 106.5: W: 84 cm, Inv. no. 12/1988. © The David Collection. The simplest form of cloth is made by passing weft threads over and under warp threads. In this case, the textile is made of linen, which was commonly used in Egypt. Wool, which takes dyes well, was inlaid as extra wefts. These pattern wefts, which form the fairly simple geometrical shapes, are the characteristic feature of this textile. There are... [Lire la suite]

Samitum-woven textile with confronted birds in medallions, silk, Iran or Iraq, c. 650-750, H: 48.5; W: 11 cm, Inv. no. 9/1996. © The David Collection. With its motif consisting of confronted pheasants or peacocks and eagles standing on winged palmettes in medallions, this textile clearly belongs to a tradition that was found in both the Sasanian and the Byzantine empires. The manufacture of complex textiles, like this samitum, required great technological insight and was exceedingly costly. While the early Muslims were suspicious... [Lire la suite]

Samitum-woven silk textile with an enthroned Sasanian king, Iran or Central Asia, 7th-8th century, H: 94; W: 85 cm, Inv. no. 23/2011. © The David Collection. The motif of a Sasanian king on a throne carried by ibexes is unusual. A single textile from Egypt and Sasanian silver bowls feature corresponding depictions, but with the ruler seated and leaning on his sword. This magnificent silk shows a king – presumably Khusrau II (r. 591-628), who was deceased at the time – holding a flower in each hand that in turn mimics the flanking... [Lire la suite]

Steelyard, bronze with engraved inscription, Middle East, 8th-9th century, L (arm): 52.5 cm, Inv. no. 12/1994. © The David Collection. The use of steelyards dates back to before the Christian era in the Mediterranean region. A counterweight is moved along the arm until it and the object to be weighed are in balance. The arm can typically be turned, since it has several balance points and their scales, making it possible to weigh both heavy and light objects. Steelyards were used since the advent of Islam, and the earliest datable... [Lire la suite]

Incense burner, cast and engraved bronze, later chain, Syria or Palestine, 8th century, H: 11; Diam: c. 10 cm, Inv. no. 7/1994. © The David Collection. In the first centuries after the hijra, the Muslims conquered extensive territories inhabited by Jews and Christians. They were largely allowed to live in peace and to keep and practice their religions as long as they paid poll taxes to the Muslim authorities. The Christian incense burner – with quite primitive depictions in relief of the Annunciation, Christ’s birth and... [Lire la suite]

Ewer, cast, engraved, and punched bronze, Near East or Iran, 8th century. H: 35 cm, Inv. no. 27/2004. © The David Collection. Not many metal objects have been preserved from the early Islamic period, making it difficult to determine their age and place of origin. This ewer belongs to a transitional type in which the features began to emerge that became typical of early Islamic metal ewers, etc. The little zoomorphic legs that imitate animal hoofs are characteristic examples. The handle with beads and especially the elegant... [Lire la suite]

Fragmentary plaque, carved ivory, Egypt or Syria, 1st half of 8th century. H: 11.5; W: 8 cm, Inv. no. 20/1978. © The David Collection. The ivory plaque was probably mounted with similar ones as a decoration on a piece of furniture. The plaque’s vines, which grow from a little vase and enclose flowers and deer, are characteristic of the forms of decoration used by the Umayyads. A closely related decoration was used on the facade of the Mshatta palace complex built in the Syrian Desert by the Umayyad caliph al-Walid II in the 740s.... [Lire la suite]

Spherical bottle, green glass with red threads, Iran or Syria, 8th-10th century, H: 15.8; Maximum diam: 17 cm, Inv. no. 37/2001. © The David Collection. The bottle has a simple but elegant decoration. The dark-green glass encloses lacquer-red fragments that created large, thread-like patterns when the glass mass was blown and rotated on the blowpipe. Related bottles were found in Syria when an Umayyad building complex was excavated. Other bottles have been found in the Iranian city of Nishapur in archeological strata that can be... [Lire la suite]

Flacon of blue glass with marvered white-thread decoration, Egypt or Syria, 8th-9th century, H: 5.5 cm, Inv. no. 31/2003. © The David Collection. This little flacon, which was used for fragrant oil or balsam, belongs to a well-known type that has been excavated in strata that can be dated to the 8th-9th century. The flacon was made using a technique that goes back to Roman times. The white decoration was created by marvering threads of white glass into the hot, dark basic mass and then “combing” the glass to create a wavy... [Lire la suite]

Flacon, yellowish and blue-green glass, Syria?, 7th-9th century, H: 10 cm, Inv. no. 49/1979. © The David Collection. This blown flacon was mounted so that it became part of a horse-like animal made of pinched glass. The flacon belongs to a type that is known from Syria during the Roman Era. After an interval, flacons of this kind in the shape of animal figures were made again in the early Islamic period. Unlike the Roman pieces, they were now set into a richer, lace-like decoration of pinched glass, perhaps inspired by the type of... [Lire la suite]