Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0197276075 ISBN 13: 9780197276075

Publisher: Kha, 1995

This is the first of a two-volume catalogue of the ceramic holdings in the Khalili Collection - nearly 2,000 objects that represent over a millennium of production from 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.

About the Author:

Ernst J. Grube, Professor Emeritus, University of Venice; President, The Islamic Art Foundation, New York.

Review:

`There are impressive scholarly essays for each category...this is one of the more specilaised volumes in the series...As with the other books in the series, this presentation of objects has such presence that it gives a sense of something like vicarious ownership to the reader...a monumental celebration of the material culture of the Islamic poeples...For their production values, for their very substantial scholarship, and of course for the collection itself, these volumes can only be seen as a landmark series and one which...should one day fetch substantial sums of money at auction.' The Art Book

`The planned complete catalogue is the most ambitious publishing programme seen in Islamic art studies since the Survey of Persian Art in the 1930s - and it will far outstrip even that massive work in scale and coverage. It promises to become the 'first port of call' for student and specialist alike. This is volume nine of twenty-seven, of which seventeen have appeared or have definite publishing dates. The format is lavish ... the design and the quality of the illustrations are outstanding.' Art History, vol.20, no.2, June 1997