Discovering Islamic Art

Mary Beardwood Discovering Islamic Art Mary Beardwood

Published by Medina Publishing Ltd 310 Ewell Road Surbiton Surrey KT6 7AL United Kingdom www.medinapublishing.com

ISBN 978-1-909339-04-0

CIP Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Researcher and editorial advisor: Shaha Parpia Designed by Kitty Carruthers Artwork by Paul Watson Map: Martin Lubikowski Printed and bound by: Emirates Printing Press, Dubai

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners. Introduction

Beautiful buildings, elegant writing, bright patterns and designs using flowers and plants. These are some of the images that come to mind when we look at Islamic art.

But what is special about Islamic art? When we talk about art that comes from just one region of the world, such as Chinese art, we have a clear idea of the style used. But the unique style of Islamic art comes from many countries. It refers to the arts of all Islamic cultures.

In this book we are going to see some of the treasures of Islam and find out about the craftsmen who made them. Geometric patterns, arabesques and calligraphy are found on buildings, clothes, books, household objects and even armour. You will see them on every page of this book and discover why they are used. We look at the importance of books, where the wisdom of scientific knowledge and inventions is recorded and shared. We see how detailed illustrations bring a world of fables and imagination to life.

If you are ready to step into this fascinating world, read on . . . Acknowledgements

Firstly, I would like to thank Shaha Parpia for all her hard work, researching information and advising on the content of Discovering Islamic Art. Without Shaha’s enthusiasm for this book from the outset and her constant support, it wouldn’t have got off the ground. Thanks also to Paul Watson, who designed the graphics throughout the book, for his creativity and positive suggestions, submitting to many changes of direction with unlimited good humour. Thanks also go to the following people: the Trustees of the Nasser D Khallili Collection, the trustees of the David Collection, Copenhagen. David Wade, Pattern in Islamic Art, and Saudi Aramco World who were all very generous with permission to use their photos and advice on captioning. Also thanks to the Tareq Rajab Museum, Kuwait; Helen P Betts; Dick Ossemon; Patrick Halpin, David Salzberger for their photographic contributions. Many people have given advice and the benefit of their knowledge, in particular Dr Melanie Gibson, SOAS, Professor Salim Al-Hassani, Chairman of the Foundation of Science, Technology and Civilization, Rafiq Abdulla, who accompanied me to the British Library and shared his knowledge of miniature paintings of birds. My thanks also go to the team at Medina Publishing; to Kitty Carruthers who saw the potential for this book and advised on the layout and content of the spreads with insight and flair, and Peter Harrigan for bringing his long experience of the Arab world to this title. Last, but not least, love and thanks to my husband, Mike, for having our holiday destinations chosen on the grounds I wanted to see Islamic Art over the last few years. Also for his attention to the detailed information needing to be filed and patience with the long hours I devoted to ‘the Book Project’. Thank you all.

4 5 About the Author

Mary Beardwood spent many years teaching in Arabia, and in 2000 published A Children’s Encyclopaedia of Arabia (later reprinted as The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Arabia). During this time she became fascinated by Islamic Art and in 2005 took a study course at the British Museum while building up her own library of works on the subject. In recent years, collections of Islamic Art have been the subject of much renewed interest, and refurbished galleries have opened at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Victoria and Albert in London, the Louvre in Paris and the David Collection in Copenhagen. In addition, wonderful new Islamic Art museums have opened in the countries of the Arabian Gulf, reflecting the desire to preserve their heritage. Mary has visited these collections, and noted how little there was in the bookshops to help children engage with the subject and for parents to extend the experience of a museum visit. Drawing on her experience of teaching, and studying Islamic Art, Mary has developed a simple, yet comprehensive overview of the important strands of the subject and the wide area, geographically and historically, that were connected by the Islamic Empire. By adding art activities and weblinks she has made it relevant to today’s children.

Consultant Shaha Parpia is an Islamic art historian based in Singapore. She has a Masters in the History of Islamic Art from SOAS, University of London, and is currently doing her doctoral studies at the University of Adelaide, Australia.

4 5 Contents

GEOMETRIC PATTERNS 8 Beautiful Maths 10

ARABESQUES 12 Twists and Twirls 14

CALLIGRAPHY 16 Stylish Writing 18

DECORATING THE MOSQUE 1 20

DECORATING THE MOSQUE 2 22 Cityscape 24 Mosque Quizzes 26

DYNASTIES AND THE ART OF WAR 28 Warriors and armour 30

MAP OF THE DYNASTIES OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD 32

A ROYAL PALACE FOR A RULER 34 Shahs and Emperors 36 A Storybook Queen 37 ART TREASURES OF THE PALACES 38 Working with Stars 40

ISLAMIC GARDENS 42 Paradise on Earth 44

THE ART OF ILLUSTRATION – Perfect Painting 46 Perfect Painting 48 Superheroes and Villains 50 Storybook Pages 52

THE ART OF WRITING – Calligraphy 54 Hands on with Writing 56

THE SPREAD OF KNOWLEDGE 58

ANIMALS IN ART 60 A Jumbo Clock 62

Answers to quizzes 64 Glossary 67 Photo credits 68 Geometric Patterns hen you enter the door of an Islamic building you find a beautiful world inside. Geometric patterns in a huge variety of shapes and colours are put together so cleverly that they become works of art. They can be in wood, metal, stone or on tiling. Every part of the building is given attention and decorated. Muslims had access to advanced mathematics and they loved the order and precision of geometry.

Although it looks difficult, geometric shapes can be made using just a simple compass and ruler.

The technique called zillij is used to make complex patterns on wall tiles. Zillij is an Arabic word which means ‘mosaic’. The tiling above is from Morocco. The pattern is known as ‘step and shoulder’. Pieces of ceramic tile are The pattern on the left, of a cut and fitted together in a repeating sixteen pointed star, is also made pattern of shapes, leaving no spaces. from small ceramic pieces which This is called tessellation. have been cut from larger tiles. When all the pieces are cut out These designs are from the Alhambra palace in Spain. they are arranged face-down on the floor, like putting together a jig-saw puzzle. A type of cement is poured over the back which hardens up so the tiles can be lifted onto a wall for fixing. A band of calligraphy is usually assembled above the star pattern.

Workers putting pieces of ceramic tile into zillij patterns.

8 9 Decorating a building with geometric tiles

It was an enormous task deciding how patterns would be placed in a mosque, palace or other important building. Scrolls of paper were used by architects giving details of the patterns to be used.

This scroll is ‘the Topkapi scroll’ It is kept at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, the centre of the Ottoman Empire, (1281-1923) but it was not originally from that region. It dates from the Timurid and Turkman dynasties which ruled in the 15th century. The scroll shows us how architects designed patterns to decorate the walls of Islamic buildings with tiles. The two and three dimensional geometric drawings served as a pattern book for the craftsmen putting the tiles on the wall.

The scroll is 29.5 metres long and has 114 individual geometric patterns.

Circles are the starting place for many designs. Overlapping circles firstly make a petal pattern. Many different geometric shapes can made by joining different points on the circles.

Inspiration for modern artists from Islamic designs

The Dutch artist M C Escher visited the Alhambra palace in Spain in 1936 and was inspired by the geometric patterns there. In his sketch book he drew the zillij patterns but then he used his own imagination to tessellate shapes using many different plants, sea creatures, animals and birds.

To download geometric patterns go to www.davidmus.dk/islamicart Click on Mostly for kids

8 9 Beautiful Maths

Circles are the starting point for many geometric shapes.

In the top pattern on the right, five overlapping circles are used to make a flower with four petals.

By joining different points on the circles you can see an eight-pointed star shape emerging in the middle pattern, which has been coloured in yellow, and finally decorated with a geometric pattern.

In the bottom pattern seven circles have been drawn which make a flower with five petals.

1. By joining the dots at the tips of each petal a hexagon is made.

In these diagrams you can see how, by joining the dots in

different ways, 2. An equilateral many more triangle inside the shapes appear. hexagon

Try drawing some shapes inside these circles by Two equilateral triangles and a joining the rectangle inside the hexagon dots.

10 11 JOIN THE DOTS TO SEE DIFFERENT GEOMETRIC SHAPES IN THE FIVE-CIRCLE PATTERNS.

Use your ruler to join the dots from 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, 4 to 5, 5 to 6, 6 to 7, 7 to 8, finishing at 1 again.

What shape have you made?

On the next pattern take a coloured pen and firstly join 1 to 3, 3 to 5, 5, to 7 and 7 to 1.

Then take a second colour and join 2 to 4, 4 to 6, 6, to 8, and 8 to 2.

Colour in the pattern you have made.

To make the last pattern join the numbers from 1 to 4, 4 to 7, 7 to 2, 2 to 5, 5 to 8, 8 to 3, 3 to 6, 6 to 1.

Hopefully the pattern you have made reminds you of something that twinkles in the sky at night!

10 11 Arabesques rabesques are designs that take ideas and shapes from the world of nature. They may be flowers, leaves or vines which spiral in and out of each other, making delicate patterns. In the hot and dusty climate of Arabia, where this style was first developed, arabesques reminded the worshipper of the beauty and order of God’s world and precious gardens, both on earth and in paradise. Flower patterns are often combined with geometric shapes. They are used to decorate all manner The walls of this mosque above are covered in an arabesque of things. design. The pattern is made like a mosaic from small pieces of coloured ceramic tiles arranged into the picture before being stuck together.

This door handle is a symmetrical arabesque design made from bronze. It used to be on one of the doors of a building used as a school in Cairo. It dates from the 14th century.

A wall tile shaped as a twelve-pointed star.

Arabesques can be woven between calligraphy as in this marble frieze.

12 13 Marble, inset with precious stones were luxurious building materials used for the Taj Mahal in India, pictured on the right. Arabesque patterns are formed by cutting jewel-like stones into small pieces and setting them into the marble. This method of decoration is called ‘pietra dura’.

Floors of mosques and palaces were carpeted in magnificent rugs. Arabesques were also very popular designs on carpets. The Ardabil carpet (pictured left) is one of the largest and finest Islamic carpets in existence. It was one of a pair of carpets made for Shah Tahmasp in Iran, and was finished in 1539. Imagine the difficulty of trying to knot ten different colours of silks into paterns of flowers and leaves. The carpet is 5 metres wide and over 10 metres long.

10 metres It was only possible to make such a complicated pattern by putting 304 knots in each square of carpet measuring 2 cms x 2 cms.

Try putting 304 dots into a square this size!

Arabesques are usually symmetrical.

A colourful earthenware frieze from the 14th century.

Go to the weblink www.metmuseum.org/Islamicart to see a timeline of Islamic Art

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