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Collection: Arts of the Islamic World

HIGHLIGHTS

Spherical Hanging Ornament Jug (Mashraba) with Human-Headed Inscription and Zodiac Signs Bowl with Kufic Inscription Prince Yahya Bottle Fragment of a Bowl Depicting a Mounted Warrior Top Section of a Water Jug Bowl with Peacock Motif Molded Tile Mirror Case Tiraz Fragment of Caliph Marwan II Medallion Ushak Carpet "Bahram Gur at the Home of Baraham the Jew," Page from an Illustrated Manuscript of the Second Small Shahnama of Firdawsi (d. 1020) Folio of Poetry From the Divan of Sultan Husayn Mirza

FULL COLLECTION

Manuscript of the Hadiqat al-Su`ada (Garden of the Blessed) of Fuzuli Battle of Karbala Hunter on Horseback Attacked by a Lion Spherical Hanging Ornament Khusraw Discovers Shirin Bathing, From Pictorial Cycle of Eight Poetic Subjects Bowl with Peacock Motif Folio of Poetry From the Divan of Sultan Husayn Mirza Bowl of Reflections Mirror Case Bottle Depicting a Hunting Scene Rosebushes, Bees, and a Dragonfly Bowl with an Enthronement Scene Fragment of a Bowl Depicting a Mounted Warrior Prince Yahya Jug (Mashraba) with Human-Headed Inscription and Zodiac Signs Medallion Ushak Carpet Cup "Bahram Gur at the Home of Baraham the Jew," Page from an Illustrated Manuscript of the Second Small Shahnama of Firdawsi (d. 1020) Mirror Case Molded Tile Folio from the "Blue" Quran Panel of Tiles Bowl with Kufic Calligraphy Top Section of a Water Jug Hunter on Horseback Attacked by a Mythical Beast Bowl with Kufic Inscription Tiraz Fragment of Caliph Marwan II Prayer Stone 5 Blue and White Bowl with Radial Design Velvet Panel Mosque Lamp A Gathering of Dervishes
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COLLECTION HISTORY

Our collection of Islamic art includes about two thousand objects that span thirteen centuries and represent a variety of cultures from around the world, from Spain to India and Central Asia to North Africa. Building upon the initial holdings established by Brooklyn Museum curator Stewart Culin (1858–1929) in the early decades of the twentieth century, the collection has continued to expand from acquisitions and gifts, most notably through the generosity of curator Charles K. Wilkinson (1897–1974) and of the Ernest Erickson Foundation.

Particular strengths of the Islamic collection include medieval ceramics and tilework from Iran (ninth through fifteenth centuries); Ottoman Turkish carpets, textiles, and manuscripts; the arts of Safavid and Qajar Iran, including miniatures, oil painting, calligraphy, ceramics, lacquerwork, carpets, textiles, and costumes (sixteenth through twentieth centuries); and North African and Turkoman textiles, costumes, and jewelry (nineteenth and twentieth centuries). Our holdings of Qajar art constitute one of the world's preeminent collections outside of Iran.