The Mouseion · Asia & the Islamic World · The Islamic World

The Islamic World

From Spain to India: calligraphy, illuminated manuscripts, tiles, carpets, metalwork and glass. Pattern and the written word are the great inventions of this art, made for mosques, palaces and markets alike.

Walk inThe whole museum

On the walls this month

• 
  Leaf from a Qur'an — 1000s-1100s, ink, gold, and colors on paper
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  The Story of Hushang, from a Majma al-tavarikh (A Compendium of Histories) of Hafiz-i Abru (recto) — 1425–50, opaque watercolor and ink on paper
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Ikat Textile Fragment — 9th–10th century, Cotton; resist dyed (ikat), plain weave, brocaded
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript — ca. 1180, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Architectural Model Based on the Alhambra — Rafael Contreras (1826–1890), 1847-1890, Plaster colored
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  'Lotto' Carpet — 16th century, Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  "Krishna Holds Up Mount Govardhan to Shelter the Villagers of Braj", Folio from a Harivamsa (The Legend of Hari (Krishna)) — ca. 1590–95, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Hanging — early 19th century, Cotton, silk; embroidered
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Bifolium from the "Nurse's Qur'an" (Mushaf al-Hadina) — ca. 410 AH/1019–20 CE, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on parchment
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Text page from a Materia Medica of Dioscorides — Abdallah ibn al-Fadl, c. 1224, ink and opaque watercolor on paper
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Kaftan — late 19th century, Silk
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Scarf End (Tenchifa) — 18th century, Linen; embroidere in silk
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Headband — 19th century, Silk, metal thread; wrapped and braided
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Dress — 19th century, Linen, silk; embroidered
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Ensemble — 19th century, Silk
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Qur'an Manuscript Folio — 1300s–1400s, ink, gold, and colors on paper
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  The Story of Adam, peace upon him, his Sons and Progeny, from a Jami al-tavarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) of Rashid al-din (verso) — c. 1425, opaque watercolor and ink on paper
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Textile Fragment — 10th century, Cotton; plain weave, resist-dyed (ikat), embroidered
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Left side of a double-page album folio: Outside a Royal Encampment (recto) and Calligraphy, Persian Verses (verso) — Bihzad, c. 1485, opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Textile Fragment — 13th century, Silk (?)
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  "Bellini" Carpet — 16th–17th century, Wool (warp, weft, and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Finial in the Form of a Parrot — 17th–18th century, Brass
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Band — 18th century, Silk, linen; embroidered
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Wedding Tunic and Ensemble — late 19th century, Cotton, velvet, metal wrapped thread
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Folio from an Arabic translation of the Materia Medica of Dioscorides — Abdallah ibn al-Fadl, 1224, ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Twelve-sided Ewer with Sphinxes and Human-Headed Inscriptions — 1300–1350, hammered sheet of brass inlaid with silver
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Ceramic Fragment — late 9th–10th century, Earthenware; glazed
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Dirham — dated 93 AH/711–12 CE, Silver
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Jug — 900s–1100s, earthenware
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Pair of Minbar Doors — ca. 1325–30, Wood (rosewood and mulberry); carved and inlaid with carved ivory, ebony, and other woods
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Ceramic Fragment — 9th century, Earthenware; molded decoration, glazed
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Necklace — 19th century, Silver
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Fragment of a Cup — 9th–10th century, Earthenware; unglazed
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

More of Asia & the Islamic World

• Japan — Woodblock prints of the "floating world" of actors, beauties and travellers, painted screens and scrolls, lacquer and…
• China & Korea — Bronze vessels older than writing on paper, jade, porcelain, and painting with the brush, where landscape was the…
• South & Southeast Asia — Gods and guardians in stone and bronze, Mughal and Rajput miniatures painted with a single-hair brush, and the art of…

Where the works come from

Every work in the Mouseion is a real piece, out of copyright everywhere, shown from the open collections of the museums that hold it — each label names the original’s museum and links to its page there.

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Open Access
• The Art Institute of Chicago — public-domain collection
• The Cleveland Museum of Art — Open Access
• Wikimedia Commons — public-domain photographs of works held elsewhere