NEW YORK - The word Orient is derived from the Latin Oriens, which means the direction of the rising sun—the east. Orientalism: Between Fact and Fantasy explores notions of “the East” in the 19th century, when globalism, shaped by colonialism and imperialism, fueled unprecedented encounters, connections, and exchanges in Europe and the Middle East. “Hard power” mingled with “soft power,” as accelerated travel, rapid technological change, and shifting geopolitics hastened artistic exchange between distant regions and different cultures.

Beginning with Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt in 1798 and culminating in the paintings of Ottoman renaissance man Osman Hamdi Bey, this exhibition tells the story of how Islamic works of art made their way to European dealers, collectors, international expositions, and museums, introducing a new visual language to artists, architects, and designers. Deep admiration for the sophisticated techniques and visual language of Islamic art led Owen Jones and other influential figures to transform architecture and design in Europe and America. Artists such as Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Eugène Delacroix, and Jean-Léon Gérôme visited lands and people across the Mediterranean or imagined them from afar. They sometimes depicted what they saw and at other times conjured distant places through memory and imagination, often using Islamic objects to stage their paintings.

Orientalism: Between Fact and Fantasy is the first exhibition at The Met to explore Orientalism as its central focus, presenting not only easel paintings but also drawings, photographs, illustrated books, architecture, arms and armor, textiles, garments, glassware, ceramics, and metalwork. Highlighting The Met collection, it features approximately 180 objects from 12 Met departments along with rarely seen loans from the U.S. and abroad. Displayed across four galleries that straddle the departments of European Paintings and Islamic Art, the presentation invites visitors to approach the exhibition from its primary entrance in Gallery 453 or explore its themes from multiple points of entry.

The exhibition is made possible by the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, Alice Cary Brown and W. L. Lyons Brown, and The Hagop Kevorkian Fund.

Additional support is provided by the Janice H. Levin Fund and an Anonymous Foundation.

The catalogue is made possible by the Janice H. Levin Fund.

Additional support is provided by the Diane W. and James E. Burke Fund and Eric Weider.

Through February 28, 2027

'L'architecture ottomane : ouvrage autorisé par iradé impérial et publié sous le patronage de Son Excellence Edhem Pacha, ministère des travaux publics, président de la Commission Impérial Ottomane pour l'Exposition Universelle de 1873 à Vienne', by Victor Marie de Launay, 1873. Chromolithography, lithograph; vii, 86, 58 pages, 190 leaves of plates in various foliations : illustrations (some color) ; Height: 52 x 38 cm. Thomas J. Watson Library (122.6 L37 Folio) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

'Architecture et décoration turques au XVe siècle', by Léon Parvillée and Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, 1874. Chromolithography; 3 p. l., iv, 16 p. : illus., 50 (i.e.49) pl. (part col., 1 fold.) incl. plans ; Height: 46 cm. (122.6 P25 Q) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

'Architecture arabe : ou, Monuments du Kaire, mesurés et dessinés, de 1818 à 1826', Author Pascal Coste, Publisher Firmin Didot Frères, 1839. Etching. Sheet (h x w): 22 1/4" x 16". Thomas J. Watson Library, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (122.82C C82 F) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

'Description de l'Égypte : ou recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française', France. Commission des sciences et arts d'Égypte, 1821-1829. Engraving; 24 v. in 26 : 50 pl., 29 tab., 3 maps; Height: 26.3 cm. Thomas J. Watson Library, Gift of Theodore M. Davis, 1913 (531 D45 Folio plates v.3 pt.1) © The Matropolitan Museum of Art

Rafael Contreras, Architectural Model Based on the Alhambra, 1847-1890. Plaster (original stucco, tiling and wood) colored. H. 39.4 cm W. 21.6 cm D. 2.4 cm. Gift of Richard M. Hunt, 1885 (85.13.1) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Rafael Contreras, Architectural Model Based on the Alhambra, 1847-1890. Plaster colored. H. 23.5 cm W. 36.8 cm D. 3.2 cm. Gift of Richard M. Hunt, 1886 (86.15.1) © The Matropolitan Museum of Art

Rafael Contreras, Architectural Model Based on the Alhambra, 1847-1890. Plaster colored. H. 41.9 cm W. 39.5 cm D. 2.5 cm. Gift of Richard M. Hunt, 1886 (86.15.2) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Rafael Contreras, Architectural Model Based on the Alhambra, 1847-1890. Plaster colored, alabaster, bisque. H. 36.8 cm W. 33 cm D. 3.2 cm. Gift of Richard M. Hunt, 1886 (86.15.3) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Charles Bargue, Bashi-Bazouk, 1875. Oil on canvas, 46.4 x 33.3 cm. Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Bequest of Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, 1887 (87.15.102) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The figure depicted here is a mercenary of the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish term for him is bashi-bazouk, which translates as “headless.” These men fought for plunder, an association that gave Bargue license to employ his virtuosic painting technique to paint finery such as the silk garments and narghile, or water pipe.

Jean-Léon Gérôme, Prayer in the Mosque, by 1874. Oil on canvas, 88.9 x 74.9 cm. Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Bequest of Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, 1887 (87.15.130) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Gérôme’s title supplies just enough information to identify the subject as prayer in a mosque, a Muslim house of worship, announcing a world that the artist presumed was unfamiliar to fellow Europeans. The scene is rendered with impressive precision, imbuing the picture with a sense of authenticity: note the scuffs in the red velvet garments worn by the man in the foreground. However, Gérôme brought together elements that, in combination, are not accurate to any given place, time, or custom. He based the interior on the ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs Mosque in Cairo, first constructed about 642 CE, but he probably did not witness a service there.

Tanbūra, 19th century, Sudan. Wood, skin, various materials. L. 54.5 cm.; W. 15 cm.; D. 10 cm. The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889 (89.4.428)  © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 Ceramic Lantern, early 13th century. Stonepaste; underglaze-painted in blue, luster-painted on transparent glaze, 23.2 × 14.6 × 13.3 cm. Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.138) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This lantern presents a classic example of Raqqa lusterware in its stonepaste body composition, overglaze luster‑painting technique, and decorative motifs, which closely resemble those on the other lusterware objects in the collection. Its form, however, is unusual. Modeled from slabs and rolls, it resembles a square domed building, articulated at each corner by a column and finial.

Bottle Depicting a Peacock in Foliage, 17th century. Stonepaste; luster-painted on blue glaze under transparent glaze; silver mount. Ht. 31 cm. Diam. 14 cm. Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.188) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tripod Candlestick, 1250–1300. Brass; inlaid with silver, gold, and black compound. H. 32 cm. Diam. 19.1 cm. Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.572) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

The engaging profile on the stem is composed of three distinct superimposed elements, perhaps flower vases or mosque lanterns. This candlestick was made for an affluent Mamluk named Sharaf al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman.

Attributed to Iran or Iraq. Candlestick with Figural Imagery, first half 14th century. Brass; cast, engraved, and inlaid with silver and black compound. Max. 23.7 cm; Max. W. at base: 21.2 cm; Diam. of bottom: 21.2 cm. Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891, 91.1.580 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This unusual nine‑sided candlestick is ornamented with figural scenes executed in an intricate inlay of precious metals, including silver and gold. Its decoration includes carefully drawn depictions of courtly pastimes—enthroned figures entertained by musicians and mounted riders playing polo or hunting.

Attributed to present-day Afghanistan, probably Herat. Dragon-Handled Jug with Inscription, early 16th century. Brass; cast and turned, engraved, and inlaid with silver, gold, and black organic compound. H. 14.3 cm; Max. Diam. 15.6 cm; Diam. of Rim: 8.6 cm; Diam. of base: 14 cm. Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.607) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This elegantly-formed jug with dragon-headed handle is covered with intricate silver and gold inlay, including a minute inscription around the base of its neck. It is inscribed with an invocation to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. As the Shi'i Muslim community holds a special reverence for 'Ali, scholars have suggested that this jug may have been created in the early 16th century, for a follower of the Shi'i Safavid dynasty.

Attributed to probably Syria. Footed Bowl with Eagle Emblem, mid-13th century. Glass; dip-molded, blown, enameled, gilded. H. 18.3 cm; Max. Diam. 20.3 cm; Diam. of Base: 12.7 cm. Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.1538) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Vessels of this characteristic shape, a rounded bowl with a pronounced, tall foot, were sometimes called tazze and were thought to evoke Christian chalices. They became popular in the Islamic eastern Mediterranean during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a period of active exchange between the Islamic and Christian worlds. This piece is among the earliest known examples of enameled glass. Its ornament and iconography is part of the "courtly cycle" referring to the lifestyle of the rulers and elites of medieval Islamic societies from Egypt to Anatolia.
The design features four circular medallions with a bird of prey. While no particular ruler or officer can be associated with the emblem, such birds of prey were common symbols of power, kingship, and to a certain extent, protection in both Muslim and Christian contexts. Flanking the inscription band and on the foot, rows of dogs chasing hares evoke the hunt, while a frieze of seated musicians and feasting figures replaces part of the inscription. Both the hunt and the feast pertain to the courtly cycle and evoke ideals of kingship.

Probably from Egypt (Cairo) or Syria. Mosque Lamp, 14th century. Glass; blown, enameled, and gilded. H. 31.8 cm; Max. Diam. 22.4 cm; Diam. with handles: 23.2 cm. Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.1539) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

One of the conventions of Mamluk mosque lamp decoration was to execute one inscription band in blue and the other in reserve against a blue ground. On this lamp, the neck and foot repeat the phrase al‑'alim ("The Wise"), punctuated by an as yet unassigned emblem, while the body bears a formulaic dedicatory inscription but no name.

Probably from Turkey, Beykoz, Istanbul. Rosewater Sprinkler, late 18th–19th century. Glass; blown. Ht. 22.2 cm; W. 8.5 cm; D. 6 cm. Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.1544) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This bottle is typical of the objects that were displayed in open niches in reception rooms of Ottoman-period upper-class Syrian homes.

Attributed to Iran, possibly Shiraz. Swan-Neck Bottle (Ashkdan), 19th century. Glass; dip molded, blown, folded foot. H. 34.9 cm; Max. Diam 11.6 cm. Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.1577) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The distinct tear-shaped opening at the top of this amber-toned bottle was carefully tooled while the glass was still molten, and flows into a thin, curvilinear neck, before expanding to a globular body resting on a low foot. The visual resemblance to the curved and attenuated neck of a swan has inspired the name of these types of bottles, but according to folklore, these bottles were used as "containers for tears," (ashkdan) meant to collect the sorrows of wives separated from their husbands.

Attributed to Iran. Swan-Neck Bottle (Ashkdan), probably 18th–19th century. Glass; mold blown; tooled on the pontil. H. 23.5 cm: Max. Diam.7.7 cm. Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.1594) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Probably from Turkey, Beykoz, Istanbul. Rosewater Sprinkler, late 18th–19th century. Glass; blown. H.18.2 cm: Max. Diam. in. 7.2 cm. Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.2155) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vase, Louis C. Tiffany, 1893–96. Favrile glass; 14.3 × 7.6 cm. Gift of H. O. Havemeyer, 1896 (96.17.43) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

The diminutive vase, with its marbleized hues of blues, purples, greens, and reds, is among the earliest documented examples of Tiffany's work in blown glass.

Attributed to Turkey. Hilya (Votive Tablet), 18th century. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper; wood. H. (70.8 cm; W. 26.7 cm; D. 1 cm. The Grinnell Collection, Bequest of William Milne Grinnell, 1920 (20.120.274) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hilya, Arabic for "ornament," refers to a genre of Ottoman Turkish literature associated with the physical description of Muhammad. The concept originated from the shamayil, the study of Muhammad’s appearance and character. According to Ottoman belief, reading or possessing an account of Muhammad’s attributes protects one from danger, harm, evil, and sickness. It became customary to carry a hilya in the form of a scroll, calligraphic study, or an amulet. In the seventeenth century, hilyas developed into an art form with a standardized layout.

Made in Turkey. Hilya (Votive Tablet), 18th century. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper; wood. H. (59 cm; W. 22.5 cm; D. 1 cm. The Grinnell Collection, Bequest of William Milne Grinnell, 1920 (20.120.275) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plate, William De Morgan, ca. 1890–1907, British (London). Ceramic. Diameter: 40.6 x 6.4 cm. Purchase, Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1923 (23.163.1) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Known for his "Persian style" blue and turquoise ceramics inspired by Iznik pottery, De Morgan produced glazes with richer, softer colors than his contemporaries. Particularly fond of dragons, he used them, dancing between stylized flowers, to anchor this design. Chief assistant Charles Passenger painted the ornament at Fulham in London, where De Morgan moved his works in 1889 to avoid the long daily commute to Merton Abbey.

Vase with cover, William De Morgan, 1888–98. Pottery, (34.9 × 24.1 cm; Weight: 2.9 kg. Purchase, Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1923 (23.163.2ab) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Watch, 1822–38, French, Lyon. Case of gold and enamel, with floral design; jeweled movement, with cylinder escapement. Height: 0.2 cm; Diameter: 4 cm. Anonymous Gift, in memory of Lady May Fletcher-Moulton, 1926 (26.267.8) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Watch, Firm of Bautte et Moynier, ca. 1826–31, Swiss, Geneva. Case: enameled gold; Movement: gilded brass and steel with ruby endstones. Diameter: 4.3 cm. Anonymous Gift, in memory of Lady May Fletcher-Moulton, 1926 (26.267.14) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This pocket watch belongs to a category of upscale souvenir watches. It features Egyptian zodiac symbols taken from a Ptolemaic sandstone bas-relief that was brought to France in 1821 from the Temple of Hathor in Dendera, Egypt.

Watch, Firm of Frères Wiss et Menu, ca. 1820–30. Swiss, Geneva. Gold, enamel, silver. Height: 0.2 cm; Diameter: 4 cm. Anonymous Gift, in memory of Lady May Fletcher-Moulton, 1926 (26.267.75) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alberto Pasini, A Mosque, 1872. Oil on canvas, 88.9 x 66.7 cmBequest of Collis P. Huntington, 1900, (25.110.94) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Pasini here depicts the Yeni Valide Mosque at Eminonu, Istanbul, an Ottoman structure completed in the early eighteenth century. Four women of the Imperial Household enter the mosque by a gateway that Pasini appropriated from another, later, monument. It was painted two decades after Pasini arrived in Paris, in 1851. When a friend, the painter Théodore Chassériau was unable to accompany a French diplomatic mission to Persia in 1855, Pasini went instead; it was the first of his numerous visits to the Middle East.

Camille Corot, Rêverie, 1857 or later Oil on wood, 49.8 x 36.5 cmH. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.563) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the 1860s and 70s, Corot often posed young, working-class Parisians in exotic costumes, perhaps evoking peasants he had painted in Italy in 1825–28. The introduction of studio props, however, situate the later works more squarely within the tradition of genre painting. In this work, the model’s expressionless face invites speculation about her state of mind, the book she has temporarily ceased to read, and the tenebrous sky.

Attributed to Iran. Bowl, second half 14th century. Brass; engraved and inlaid with silver; Gr. Diam. 22.9 cm, Diam. (at rim) 17.8 cm. Rogers Fund, 1935 (35.64.2) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Helmet, 17th century and later, Indian, Deccan, possibly Golconda. Steel, iron, gold. H. including mail 61.3 cm; H. including nasal 33.7 cm; H. excluding mail and nasal 24.3 cm; W. 22.9 cm; D. 28.6 cm; Wt. 1665 g. Bequest of George C. Stone, 1935 (36.25.127) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Attributed to Egypt or Syria. Long-Necked Bottle, first half 14th century. Glass, colorless with green tinge; blown, blown applied foot, applied decoration, enameled, and gilded. H. 49.8 cm. Max. Diam. 24.6 cm; Diam. of Base: 16 cm. Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1936 (36.33) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Especially after the Mongol‑Mamluk peace of 1323, the Chinese motifs popular in contemporary Ilkhanid art began to appear in the art and architecture of the Mamluks. Here, a Chinese cloud‑collar design provides the framework of four medallions, each decorated with a bird of prey attacking a goose, surrounded by a floral ground of Chinese‑inspired lotus and peony blossoms. Bottles of this shape served as wine decanters, and are depicted as such in banqueting scenes in a variety of media.

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Odalisque in Grisaille, ca. 1824–34. Oil on canvas, 83.2 x 109.2 cm. Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund, 1938 (38.65) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is an unfinished repetition, reduced in size and much simplified, of the celebrated Grande Odalisque of 1814 (Musée du Louvre, Paris), an imagined concubine in a Middle Eastern harem. The painting was central to Ingres’s conception of ideal beauty, and its influence was bolstered by his longevity: Ingres continued to paint nudes like this one as late as the 1860s, by which time he had trained hundreds of followers. Paintings in shades of gray—en grisaille—were often made to establish variations in tone as a guide to engravers of black and white reproductive prints, but the intended purpose of this work remains uncertain.

Jar, late 12th–first half 13th century. Made in Syria, Raqqa. Stonepaste; underglaze painted in blue, luster-painted on transparent glaze. H. 23.8 cm; Max. diam. 17.1 cm. H.O. Havemeyer Collection, Gift of Horace Havemeyer, 1948 (48.113.15) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Nineteenth-century antiquarians’ fascination with The Thousand and One Nights and its 9th-century protagonist, Harun al‑Rashid, provoked interest in the Syrian city of Raqqa, where this Abbasid caliph once resided, and in the ceramics unearthed there. These prized objects date to the Ayyubid period, however, not Harun’s time. Recent study confirms that Raqqa was an important ceramics center, especially in the first part of the twelfth century, but other centers produced so‑called Raqqa ware as well.

John Singer Sargent, Egyptian Woman, 1890–91. Oil on canvas, 64.8 x 53.3 cm. Gift of Mrs. Francis Ormond, 1950 (50.130.21) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Sargent sketched and painted extensively while visiting Egypt, in 1890–91, as he prepared to paint murals depicting the history of religion at the Boston Public Library. In addition to studying the region’s historic art and recording the scenery, the artist made a number or portrait sketches of local men and women. In this unfinished painting, Sargent captured his sitter’s distinctive beauty and direct gaze with his characteristic spontaneity and expressive brushwork.

Fragmentary Loom Width with Wavy-Vine Pattern, ca. 1565–80, Turkey, probably Istanbul. Silk, metal wrapped thread; lampas (kemha). Textile: 121.9 cm; W. 67.3 cm; Mount: 135.3 cm; W. 81.3 cm; D. 2.5 cm. Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1952 (52.20.21) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Spectacular, large‑pattern silks were favored materials for luxury garments among the courtly elite of sixteenth-century Istanbul, and were often used for the bold, richly colored caftans of the Ottoman sultans. The weave here, referred to in Turkish as kemha, incorporates metal‑wrapped thread into a lampas, or multiweave fabric. Ottoman kemha fabrics typically combine a satin ground with a design executed in twill and highlighted with gold. Catching the light, their glittering patterns appear to float above a shimmering background.

Eugène Delacroix, Study for "The Sultan of Morocco and His Entourage", 1845. Graphite; squared in white chalk. Sheet:59.7 × 49.7 cm, Rogers Fund, 1961 (61.202) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

This drawing shows the final composition for the largest painting Delacroix made based on his experience in North Africa, his submission to the Salon of 1845. The Franco-Moroccan war of 1844 must have reignited his interest in the sultan as a subject. By that time, however, the ambassadorial mission was seen as a failure, and Delacroix excluded the French delegation from the group. The omission shifts the work from a record of diplomatic ceremony to an imposing portrait of a ruler.

Eugène Delacroix, A Moroccan Couple on Their Terrace, 1832. Watercolor over traces of graphite, 13.7 x 18.9 cm. The Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ittleson Jr. Purchase Fund, 1963 (63.215) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

This is one of eighteen watercolors Delacroix presented to his travel companion, the diplomat Charles de Mornay, following their return from North Africa. The artist executed a number of the works while the men were quarantined for two weeks in Toulon. Inspired by the quality of Mediterranean light observed during the journey, he adopted a brighter palette than he had used previously. His fascination with Moroccan costume is apparent here in the attention he lavished on the multilayered attire of the woman, especially compared to his more abstract approach to other decorative aspects of the scene.

Attributed to Iran, Kirman, Dish with Two Intertwined Dragons, ca. 1640. Stonepaste; painted in blue under transparent glaze. H. 7cm. Diam. 43.8cm. Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1965 (65.109.2) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Although Chinese blue-and-white porcelain had exerted a strong influence on ceramic production of the Islamic Near East since the fourteenth century, this phenomenon entered a new phase in the seventeenth century, as Persian ceramicists responded to the taste in Safavid Iran and abroad for Chinese export porcelain, known as Kraak ware.

The designs on this large dish adapt elements of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain of various dates. The center of the dish is densely ornamented with two entwined dragons, one light blue and the other dark blue with a white underbelly, grappling with each other against a concentric wave pattern. The cavetto zone surrounds this scene with a band of lotus flowers linked by delicately scrolling vines and leaves. The rim bears a reserve-painted wave-and-rock pattern and the exterior is decorated with scrolls of wispy and fanlike floral forms. On the foot of the dish is a "tassel mark" in imitation of a Chinese reign mark, or nien-hao. Similar marks are found on other bowls attributed to seventeenth-century Iran.

Dish, 16th century, Iznik, Turkey. Stonepaste; polychrome-painted under transparent glaze. H. 6 cm. Diam. 27.9 cm. Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1966 (66.4.17) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Attributed to Egypt, Candlestick Base, first half 14th century. Brass with silver inlay. H. 21.1 cm. Max. Diam. (irregular) 33.4 cm. Rogers Fund, 1971, 1971.40 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plate with Isnik floral and foliate patter. n, Minton(s), 1881. British, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Bone China. Diameter: 24.1 cm. Gift of Robert L. Isaacson, 1988 (1988.404) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Christopher Dresser, Bottle, ca. 1862. British, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Bone china. Height: 19.4 cm. Purchase, Friends of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Gifts, 1996 (1996.94) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

The central pattern of scrolling interlaced foliage in orange edged in gold on a white ground harkens back to Islamic decorative motifs frequently found on ceramics. The vertical designs on the neck and under the bowl of the bottle are in imitation of fluting and gadrooning frequently found on silver hollowware. The bulbous shape of the vase, with a tall, narrow neck, takes its inspiration from Persian and Chinese examples.

Attributed to Christopher Dresser (1834–1904), the vase's decorative scheme follows his idea that "the ornament must tend to emphasise [sic] the beautiful quality of the object and not destroy the form." By the early 1860s, Dresser was working for the Minton factory as a freelance designer and his early work for the company was often inspired by Persian examples. Some of these designs were presented in Minton's display at the International Exhibition, London (1862).

The stylized geometric motifs recalling Middle Eastern sources, as well as the overall organization of ornament on the vase, are in accord with Dresser's theories on good design as espoused in his Principles of Decorative Design (1873), which echoed the ideas of Owen Jones. Both believed that when an object found in nature is used as a decorative motif ,it should be depicted conventionally, or flattened, rather than in imitation of the model. Dresser also admired the abstraction and intricacy of interlaced patterns associated with Persian ornament.

Jean-Louis Moré, Watch, ca. 1830, Swiss, Geneva. Case of gold and enamel, with floral design; jeweled movement, with cylinder escapement, 5.6 x 1cm; Diameter: 4.1 cm. Bequest of Vladimir M. Eitingon, in memory of his parents, Michail and Betty Eitingon, 1982 (1983.183.3) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Auguste-Xavier Leprince, An Ottoman Man in the Artist's Studio, ca. 1823–26. Oil on canvas, 32.7 x 24.4 cm. The Whitney Collection, Gift of Wheelock Whitney III, and Purchase, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. McVeigh, by exchange, 2003 (2003.42.39) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Most of Leprince’s sitters seem to have been more or less like the painter himself—elegant Parisians of the middle class. The identity of the model depicted here and the circumstances that brought him into the artist’s studio are unknown, but beginning with Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798, French artists from Girodet to Géricault had relished the opportunity to paint figures in Ottoman dress. Leprince’s interest in this pensive man may have stemmed from the war of independence being waged by Greece against the Ottoman Empire in the 1820s.

Jean-Léon Gérôme, Bashi-Bazouk, 1868–69. Oil on canvas, 80.6 x 66 cm. Gift of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2008 (2008.547.1) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

This arresting picture was made after Gérôme returned to Paris from a twelve-week journey to the Near East in 1868. He was at the height of his career when he dressed a model in his studio with garments and accessories he had acquired abroad. The artist’s Turkish title for this picture—which translates as "broken-head"—evokes the poorly paid mercenaries who fought ferociously for plunder under Ottoman leadership, although it is difficult to imagine this man charging into battle wearing such an exquisite silk tunic. Gérôme’s virtuosic treatment of textures provides a sumptuous counterpoint to the figure’s dignified bearing.

Eugène Delacroix, A Wall Decorated in Spanish Tiles, 1832. Watercolor over graphite. Overall: 11.4 x 18.1 cm. Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Dr. Harvey Wolinsky, 2013 (2013.1135.16) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Watercolors were still cumbersome to use outside the studio at this date, so Delacroix often added notes on color to his graphite sketches for later reference. He used that process to execute this drawing of a distinctive tile wall rapidly on-site and then carefully fill in the design with watercolor at another time. Delacroix adapted this tile pattern in one of the most significant paintings inspired by his visit to North Africa, "Women of Algiers in their Apartment" (1834; Musée du Louvre), underlining the crucial role of drawings in providing source material he could consult throughout his career.

Eugène Delacroix, Figure in a Doorway, 1832. Watercolor over graphite. Overall: 4 x 6 1/8 in. (10.2 x 15.5 cm). Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Alan Salz, 2013 (2013.1135.17) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

As part of a government mission to Morocco, Delacroix gained entry to places typically inaccessible to Europeans. The buildings in this drawing may represent part of the royal palace complex at Meknès, which the French delegation visited following their audience with Sultan Abd er-Rahman (r. 1822–59). The pinkish-red terracotta color surrounding the window here appears frequently among his visual souvenirs of architecture, decoration, and dress in Morocco and Andalusia.

Eugène Delacroix, Seven Studies of Moroccan Men's Costume, 1832. Watercolor over graphite. Overall: 15.6 x 9.6 cm. Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Jill Newhouse, 2013 (2013.1135.18) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Eugène Delacroix, Young Moroccan, Standing, 1832. Watercolor over pen and brown ink. Overall: 19.4 x 6.7 cm. Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Christophe Leribault, 2013 (2013.1135.19) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Delacroix filled seven sketchbooks during his six months of travel through North Africa and Spain in 1832. Many of his drawings from the trip appear to have been jotted extremely quickly and carry minimal visual information, yet Delacroix believed strongly in their potency. "Learn to draw," he wrote, "and in returning from travel, you will carry with you memories. . . . That simple mark of the pencil . . . recalls, along with the place that struck you, all the associations connected with it . . . a thousand delicious impressions."

Eugène Delacroix, Study for "The Sultan of Morocco and His Entourage", 1832–33. Brush and brown ink. Overall: 19.4 x 25.2 cm. Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Henri Loyrette, 2013 (2013.1135.20) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Among his North African subjects, Delacroix returned repeatedly to Sultan Abd er-Rahman, the Moroccan ruler the French diplomatic mission had gone to meet. (Their aim, following the French invasion of Algeria in 1830, was to seek his cooperation to maintain control of the neighboring occupied territory.) Not long after the encounter took place, Delacroix made this compositional study based on his recollections and notes from the day. The drawing includes all the main protagonists: the sultan on horseback, two of his ministers at left, a military chief near the center with his back to the viewer, and French diplomat Charles de Mornay immediately to the right, accompanied by his interpreter.

Eugène Delacroix, Study for "The Sultan of Morocco and His Entourage", ca. 1855–56. Graphite. Overall: 20.9 x 25.7 cm. Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Henri Loyrette, 2013 (2013.1135.21) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

When Delacroix revisited the subject of the sultan in 1856, he further stripped away references to the 1832 diplomatic audience he had witnessed. In a drawing preparatory to a smaller painting, he shifted the leader's attention to the left and eliminated the ministers and advisers, replacing them with servants who attend to the ruler’s comfort, using long pieces of white cloth to swat away insects.

Jean-Léon Gérôme, Bashi-Bazouk, ca. 1868–69. Oil on canvas, 26 × 21.6 cm. Gift of Kenneth Jay Lane, 2014 (2014.435.1) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Gérôme’s Turkish title for this picture, which translates as "headless," evokes the poorly paid auxiliary soldiers who fought ferociously for plunder under Ottoman leadership. To create it, the artist posed a model in his Paris studio wearing garments and accessories he had acquired abroad.
Shortly after its completion, the present work was acquired by John Taylor Johnston (1820–1893), the first president of the Metropolitan Museum.

Horace Vernet, Portrait of a "Mamelouk", 1810. Oil on canvas, 75 x 61.5 cm. Gift of Kenneth Jay Lane, 2014 (2014.435.3) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

This debonair early portrait by Vernet, a leading battle painter of the nineteenth century, is thought to depict one of hundreds of Middle Easterners who sought refuge in France following Napoleon’s unsuccessful invasion of Egypt in 1798–1801. The sitter’s name is unknown, but he is identifiable by his garments as a member of the corps of Mamluks, conscripted by Napoleon as part of the French military. Their ranks were later filled by native-born Frenchmen; elements of their dress permeated civilian fashion.

Benjamin-Constant (Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant), Three Figures in an Interior (Un Envoi de Serbie), 1876. Oil on canvas, 31.1 x 39.4 cm. Gift of Kenneth Jay Lane, 2017 (2017.202.3) © The Metropolitan Museum of Ar

Candlestick, Tiffany & Co., 1878. Iron, silver, gold, and copper, 19.1 × 11 cm. Purchase, Sansbury-Mills Fund and Spencer Marks Gift, 2018 (2018.121.1a, b) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

These candlesticks exemplify the innovative designs and technical virtuosity that characterized Tiffany & Co.’s work during the 1870s and 1880s. Exhibited at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair), the candlesticks evidence a sophisticated engagement with Islamic decorative vocabulary and design. Edward C. Moore, the director of Tiffany’s silver division during most of the second half of the nineteenth century, was a passionate and discerning collector of metalwork, glass, ceramics, and textiles from the Islamic world. His collections informed his creative vision, and these sources of inspiration. A surviving diary of one of Tiffany’s leading designers, Charles Grosjean, documents the candlesticks as the first works he selected for inclusion in the firm’s display in Paris. Particularly striking and unusual for their use of iron, the candlesticks offer compelling supporting evidence for Tiffany’s declaration that their exhibition in Paris "has proved a success far greater than any one had expected…" and "is proof of the growth of our people in art knowledge and education." The acclaim Tiffany & Co. garnered at the fair propelled them to international prominence and prompted the British designer and critic Christopher Dresser to dub them "first silversmiths of the world."

Jean-Léon Gérôme, Assan, a Young Man, ca. 1855–56. Graphite, 26.6 × 16.2 cm. Gift of Kenneth Jay Lane, 2013 (2018.208.1) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

In 1855−56, Gérôme visited Egypt for the first time and spent four months traveling down the Nile. This drawing belongs to a series of sensitively observed ethnographic portraits he made throughout his journey. This extremely refined portrait of a turbaned man with a downcast gaze exemplifies Gérôme’s elegant and exacting draftsmanship.

Isidore Pils, Study of a Kabyle Man, Algeria, December 10, 1861, 1861. Black and white chalk on gray paper. Sheet (visible): 35.2 × 25.1 cm. Mat: 48.9 × 36.2 cm. Gift of Kenneth Jay Lane, 2013 (2018.208.2) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

After achieving success with paintings of Crimean War subjects, Pils received a commission for a monumental work commemorating Napoleon III’s visit to Algeria in 1860. Though the painting is now lost, an oil sketch reveals that this drawing is a study for the central figure of the composition, one of the Kabyle leaders who received the Emperor. Pils spent two years in Kabylie, a northern region of Algeria, sketching the landscape and people. In this accomplished study, he effectively combines black and white chalks to convey the light hitting the burnous, a garment traditionally worn for important events by high-ranking individuals.

Beggar's Bowl (Kashkul), dated 1210 AH/1795–96 CE. Coco-de-mer, carved. L. 13 in. (33 cm). Purchase, 2017 and 2018 NoRuz at The Met Benefits, 2019 (2019.300) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Kashkuls (begging bowls) are the most emblematic accoutrement of the wandering dervish. They are typically boat-shaped and made in a variety of media such as coco-de-mer shell, metal, ceramic and wood. This example in coco-de-mer shell is distinguished for the biblical-inspired subject matter featuring a Muslim adaptation of the story of Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac (here Isma'il) that is seen at the bottom. This story gained popularity in Iran in the second half of the nineteenth century and is found in paintings and lacquerware. The kashkul also bears an inscription in fine nasta'liq script which contains the Nad-i 'Ali (Prayer to ‘Ali), excerpts from the Qur'anic throne verse (Ayat al-Kursi) and invocations to Shi'i Imams.

Large Ceramic Bowl, Manufacturer Sèvres Manufactory, dated 1850. Hard-paste porcelain; pâte-sur-pâte, polychrome glaze, and gold. H: 33 cm Diam. 82 cm. Purchase, Alexandra Wait, William Wait, and Younghee Kim-Wait Gift and Turkish Centennial Fund, 2024 (2024.409) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
 

Described in the Sèvres 1850 sales register as a 'jatte chinoise, fond céladon," this prominent bowl from the French royal porcelain manufacture presents a distinct color palette with white and blue against mint green. The background color is reminiscent of the Chinese celadon tradition. The decorative repertoire with saz leaves and florals relate however to the Ottoman tradition and may have been introduced from Ottoman silk textiles or perhaps pattern books which circulated at the time in Europe. The vegetal décor appears in low relief and has been applied in the barbotine technique also known as "pâte-sur-pâte" technique, which is in line with the porcelain manufacture tradition which has been in use at Sèvres in the nineteenth century. The bowl thus illustrates well the preference for a hybrid style developing in the mid-nineteenth century in France and the admiration of Islamic art at the time. The bowl was made in 1850 and intended for the first international fair in London, 1851, where it was prominently displayed at The Crystal Palace Great Exhibition of 1851 as part of the Sèvres Court. The reverse of the bowl bears two red circular "R.F." (République Française) marks used on Sèvres porcelain, as well as two green lozenge marks, all of which are dated "S. 50" (Sèvres 1850).

Osman Hamdi Bey, At the Mosque Door, dated 1879. Oil on canvas, 60 × 42 × 1.6 cm. Purchase, Turkish Centennial Fund, 2024 Benefit Fund, and Zeynep Oğuz Bilimer and Evren Bilimer Gift, 2025 (2025.264) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Olivier Bro de Comères, Interior View of the Prayer Hall, Djamaa el Kebir, 1833–40. Watercolor and pen and ink over graphite. Sheet: 22 × 29 cm. Purchase, Harvey Salzman Gift and Friends of Islamic Art Gifts, 2025 (2025.304.5) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Olivier Bro de Comères, Artisan from Algiers, 1833–40. Watercolor and pen and ink over graphite. Sheet: 21.4 × 25.5 cm. Purchase, Harvey Salzman Gift and Friends of Islamic Art Gifts, 2025 (2025.304.63)  © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fancy dress costume, probably British, ca. 1860, silk, cotton, metallic thread. Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, (1991.264a–k) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ensemble, 19th century. Wool, metal wrapped thread; embroidered. Gift of George R. Dyer, 1941 (C.I.41.86.4a, b) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art 

To be continued...