This is the first of two volumes cataloguing the ceramic holdings in the Collection – nearly 2,000 objects produced all over the Muslim world. It concentrates on the beauty of the work of the early Muslim potters through a selection of 406 items.
The Collection contains many remarkable objects, including masterpieces with few, if any, parallels. Amongst these is a 9th-century relief-decorated dish, one of only a dozen in existence and arguably the most beautiful; an underglaze-painted openwork ewer from Iran – a technical tour-de-force with only one known counterpart; and a signed bottle which is the earliest known dated ceramic from Iran.
The various wares produced from the 7th to the 13th centuries are discussed at length in art historical and technical essays, which incorporate the latest archaeological evidence.
The items are illustrated in colour, with profile and detail drawings; the decipherable inscriptions are reproduced with translations; and a full scholarly apparatus provides references to comparative items and to further reading.
The late Professor Ernst J. Grube – Professor Emeritus in the History of Islamic Art, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia, Venice; first Curator of Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; specialist in Islamic painting and ceramics
Manijeh Bayani – Specialist in Persian and Arabic epigraphy; contributor to most of the catalogues in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art series
Dr Derek Kennet – Lecturer, Department of Archaeology, Durham University; archaeologist working in India and the Middle East
Dr Peter Morgan – Former Director, British Institute of Persian Studies, Iran; research interests include Ilkhanid ceramics
Nahla Nassar – Curator and Registrar, Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art and the Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage Collection
Professor Alastair Northedge – Professor of Islamic art and architecture, Université de Paris-Sorbonne, Paris; archaeologist specialising in early Islamic material culture
Dr Cristina Tonghini – Lecturer in the History of Islamic Art, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia, Venice; archaeologist in Syria and specialist in its Islamic ceramics
348 pages; fully illustrated in colour, numerous line drawings, section on inscriptions with translations; hardback with dust jacket (slipcased); 36 x 26 cm; 1994; ISBN: 1-874780-58-7
PURCHASE
