The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston unveils more than 10 centuries of Islamic art Saturday, starting a year-long exhibition highlighting roughly 60 pieces from the renowned Kuwaiti museum Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (DAI).
Thanks to the massive geographic size of the Muslim world — which, at its height, maintained an influence that stretched from Spain to China — Islam has evolved as a particularly inclusive culture, incorporating countless artistic influences through the centuries.
"We've selected items to give people a broad overview of Islamic art," explains curator Giovanni Curatola, a scholar at the University of Udine who assisted in creating the MFAH show. "The artwork is so incredibly varied that we've decided to concentrate on showing a range of periods and materials: stone, glass, metal, wood, ivory and jewelry."
Tile, Iranian world, 17th century, glazed fritware tile, courtesy of The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
"This is an example of luster-painted pottery that one would have only ever seen in the Islam world," Curatola says, pointing to a 13th-century vase from Damascus. "It's a masterpiece, really. The luster process is incredibly complicated. Artists have to kiln the pottery two times, which is risky because the piece can crack."
In between firings, potters decorate each piece with a paint containing silver and copper, creating delicate motifs that shine with metallic luster.
Curatola believes the complex process was developed in the ninth century as a reaction against Chinese porcelain, which, at the time, was beginning to make its way to the Middle East via the Silk Road.
Jar, Greater Syria, Damascus, 13th century, luster-painted fritware, courtesy of The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
This pen case and inkwell, Curatola points out, was designed for manuscript writers to work both on the floor and from a standing position. The attached inkwell swivels, allowing the artist to hang the set from a belt.
Click through the slide show for more examples from the exhibit.
Pen Box and Inkwell, Mughal dominions, mid-17th century, jade inlaid with gold and set with rubies and emeralds, courtesy of The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
Vine Scroll Carpet, Iranian World, 16th–17th centuries, wool, courtesy of The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
Turban Ornament, India, Mughal dominions, 17th century, gold set with emeralds and diamonds and enameled, courtesy of The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
Lidded Cup and Tray, India, Mughal dominions, 17th century, gold with champlevé and painted enamels, courtesy of The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
Folio from a Qur’an manuscript, North Africa, 9th–10th centuries, ink, colors and gold on velum sheet, courtesy of The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
Candlestick, Egypt or Syria, 14th century, brass inlaid with silver, made for an officer of al-Malik al-Nasir, courtesy of The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
Folio depicting a water clock from the treatise on automata, Kitab fi Ma’rifat al-Hiyal al- Handasiya (The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices), probably Baghdad, dated Ramadan 715 AH/December 1315, ink, colors and gold on paper, courtesy of The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
Vase, East Iranian World, 12th century, bronze inlaid with silver and copper, courtesy of The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
Folio from a Qur’an manuscript, North Africa, 9th–10th centuries, ink, colors and gold on velum sheet, courtesy of The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
100 Mohur (Presentation coin), India, struck at Lahore in the name of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and dated 1048 AH (1638-39), gold weight 2.4 pounds, courtesy of The al-Sabah Collection, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait
