Iran

Installation view: No god but God: The art of Islam, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2019; photo: Saul Steed. ADELAIDE.- From 24 August 2019, the Art Gallery of South Australia will present its largest and most expansive collection display of Islamic art to date. Spanning the past twelve centuries and including pivotal works from across the globe, No god but God: The art of Islam dissects the intimate connection between faith and art in Islam across the ages. Presented as part of the Adelaide Festival... [Lire la suite]

The Shapur Plate, Iran, Sasanian period, Reign of Shapur II (309-379 C.E.), 4th century, Silver and gilt, H x Diam: 5 x 24 cm, Purchase, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection, F1934.23. © Freer Gallery and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery / The Smithsonian's Museums of Asian Art The wealth and power of ancient Iran was in part expressed in portable luxury objects fashioned from precious metals and decorated with royal imagery. From the establishment of the Achaemenid Empire in circa 550 BCE to the... [Lire la suite]

At MAO, Turin, opens Drop by Drop Life Falls from the Sky. Water, Islam, and Art, an exhibition curated by Alessandro Vanoli It is the major exhibition on the relationship between water and Islam, from its most ancient origins to its many complex developments, up to more recent needs. This exhibition tells a story through images, artifacts, books, and miniatures: technology, everyday life, and art, which for centuries mirrored one another in the many ways of enjoying and using water. This exhibition bears witness to the variety and... [Lire la suite]

Lot 200. A Khorassan bronze openwork incense burner in the form of a bird, Iran, 11th century; 19cm high. Estimate: £20,000 - £30,000. Sold: £19,000. © Roseberys standing on three-pronged feet, the body with openwork holes to back and head, chest with sliding tray, head with moulded comb and beak and turquoise inlaid eyes, decorated either side with an engraved roundel containing floriated cross design, and engraved feather design to wings. Provenance: Acquired in 2017, previously part of a... [Lire la suite]

Wooden model group of a butcher’s shop, Deir el-Bersha, Egypt, Middle Kingdom period. © the Trustees of the British Museum. LONDON.- The British Museum’s new Asahi Shimbun display will explore the relationship between food, power and control through a focussed selection of objects. More food is being produced than ever before, but hunger remains one of the biggest threats to society today – in 2017, the United Nations estimated that around one in nine people... [Lire la suite]

Safavid Blue and White Bowl, Iran, 17th century. Underglaze painted pottery. Diameter 21.5 cm (8.5 in.). © Amir Mohtashemi Ltd at TEFAF Maastricht 2019, stand 239.  Ivory Plaque (The Triumph of Divine Over Profane Love), Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), Early 17th century. Carved ivory, 19.5 x 13 x 4 cm (7.7 x 5.1 x 1.6 in.). © Amir Mohtashemi Ltd at TEFAF Maastricht 2019, stand 239.  Amir Mohtashemi Ltd at TEFAF Maastricht 2019, March 16-24 2019, stand 239. 69 Kensington Church Street London W8... [Lire la suite]

Folio Describing the Prophet Muhammad’s Epithets; Page from a dispersed Mathnawi (‘spiritual couplets’) of Mir Hasan, late 18th century, India (probably Hyderabad), ink, colors, and gold on paper, Cincinnati Art Museum; Gift of JoLynn M. and Byron W. Gustin, 2016.421a-b. CINCINNATI, OH.- Explore the craftsmanship, skill, beauty and function of calligraphy from the ninth to the twentieth centuries in the special exhibition Collecting Calligraphy: Arts of the Islamic World, on view at the Cincinnati Art MuseumSeptember 7,... [Lire la suite]

Mosque lamp, Syria or Egypt,  1322–1328, glass with enamel painting and gilding, height 32,1 cm. Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. THE HAGUE.- This autumn Gemeentemuseum Den Haag showcases the stunning ornamental delights of Islamic art in a new exhibition entitled Splendour and Bliss – Arts of the Islamic World. Literature and the Arabic script are important in the world of Islam, and so too are music, and eating and drinking together. The museum has therefore challenged eighteen writers, chefs and... [Lire la suite]

Amulet scroll (tarsh) with polychrome block print, Egypt, perhaps Iran, 10th-11th century, H: 86,6; W: 4,5 cm, Inv. no. 85/2003. © The David Collection, Copenhagen. Amulet scrolls like this one, with brief printed quotations from the Koran and God’s 99 names, were probably not intended to be read, only enclosed in a good-luck charm. The text at the top – “God’s support and a speedy victory” – is known from Islamic armor, indicating that the scroll was intended for a warrior. The printing technique employed for... [Lire la suite]

Ornament for a belt or horse fittings, parcel-gilt silver, embossed, chased, and engraved, Iran, 6th-7th century. H without eyes: 0.7; Diam: 5.5 cm, Inv. no. 4/1967. © The David Collection.   Metal roundels of this kind, fitted with a bar at the back for attachment, are known from the Iranian area as early as the end of the 2nd century B.C. It is unclear whether these ornaments were used to decorate belts, clothing, or horse fittings.   Other museums have at least four related Sasanian roundels which,... [Lire la suite]