Browse Items (101 total)
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Bookbinding, Afghanistan, Herat, ca. 1580, Leather, pasteboard, gold, lapis blue, green, red, blue and black paint, AKM387
The intricate golden covers of this book were tooled using a large stamp pressed into the covers along a horizontal central line, creating a perfectly symmetrical design. Now missing the characteristic envelope flap, these covers were likely produced…
Bookbinding, Outer Cover and Doublure, Iran, early 18th century, Leather, pasteboard, gold, marbled paper, AKM990
Paper, imported from China beginning in the eighth century, was soon adopted as a writing medium as well as a decorative surface for marbling, with distinctive techniques developed in the fifteenth century in Safavid Iran and Ottoman Turkey, as well…
Bookbinding, Turkey, 17th century Leather, pasteboard, gold, AKM394
The shifting tastes of Ottoman patrons can be seen in these two bindings, whose covers feature a distinctive pendant extending from a central medallion. Often beautifully decorated with tooled, stamped, painted, and filigreed leather, some Ottoman…
Bookbinding, Turkey, possibly early 18th century Leather, pasteboard, gold, silver, AKM989
Paper, imported from China beginning in the eighth century, was soon adopted as a writing medium as well as a decorative surface for marbling, with distinctive techniques developed in the fifteenth century in Safavid Iran and Ottoman Turkey, as well…
Bowl, Iran, Kashan, early 13th century Fritware, lustre-painted, AKM557
Both horse and camel appear in the striking images of this conical bowl, where a rider is painted at the center, surrounded by a merchant caravan, while the bowl's sides depict six camels laden with bags, led by an attendant. The camels almost seem…
Box and Cover, China, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, 1506 – 1521, Slab-built porcelain with cobalt-blue paint and glaze AKM806
The rectangular form of this porcelain box to hold writing tools, with a stepped base and gently curved lid adorned with roundels containing stylized Arabic inscriptions, suggests that the scribes who used it served the Muslim bureaucrats or…
Carpet, Azerbaijan, 19th century
Wool, pile-woven, On loan from the Marshall and Marilyn R. Wolf Collection,
Toronto, LI2021.30.1
Merchandise traded along the Silk Roads included jewels, spices, salt, tea, and - above all - silk, carried by caravans of camels able to endure the desert's heat and lack of water. The lustrous wool carpet design seen here is called shadda, a very…
Choir Book, Spain, Granada (?), 16th century, Ink and paint on parchment, wood cover with metal, On loan from Western University, Archives & Special Collections, MS M2150
Spiritual travel is experienced through sung prayer as well as through map image. This choir book or 'antiphoner' includes chants for the Christian Holy Week of Easter. So heavy that it can only be moved by two people, this enormous book would have…
Cordiform (heart-shaped) pendant, Turkmenistan, Teke, Mid-late 19th century, Silver, fire gilded and cased, with niello inlay, decorative wire and table-cut carnelians, Loan from M. M. Wolf Collection
Inner Asia is famous for the jewelry of its more than 30 Turkmen tribes, produced in silver, decorated with talismanic inscriptions, and adorned with carnelian or turquoise. Each element--metal, writing, and precious stones--is carefully chosen to…
Corpse Stories (Ro dngos grub) Scroll written in dbu med script, Tibet, 20th century, Ink on paper, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Tibetan MSS 00006
This handwritten Tibetan scroll contains a story collection which, like many tales-within-tales, begins with a challenge: a prince is tasked with bringing a particular corpse from a remote cemetery in the mountains, but he must not say a word to it.…
Devotional Anthology: Song of the Lord (Bhagavad Gita) and other works, India, Kashmir, 17th -19th century, Carbon black ink and pigments on paper with textile covering, On loan from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, MSS 01106
The contents (Sanskrit text and Hindu iconography), materials (Islamic burnished paper and Indian textiles), and format (Islamic-style binding) of this manuscript containing the Hindu Bhagavad Gita all illuminate the fecund encounter of Persian and…
Eskandar in a Tree Pavilion, India, ca. 1610, Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, AKM147
Persian, Indian, and European forms converge in this stunning painting of Alexander the Great (Persian, Eskandar). Seated in a pose that resembles that of the Mughal ruler Humayun, Eskandar wears a helmet engraved with the image of a horse - perhaps…
Eskandar Sees the Talking Trees, From a dispersed manuscript of the Book of Kings (Shahnameh) of Firdausi (d. 1020), Uzbekistan, Bukhara, 16th century, Ink on paper and opaque watercolour
Alexander the Great (356 – 323 BCE) is known under many names, including the Persian ‘Eskandar’ depicted in manuscripts from Iran and Uzbekistan. His Macedonian origins and association with Greek culture — above all through his teacher,…
Four Divisions (Arba'ah Turim), Author: Jacob ben Asher, Printers: David and Samuel Ibn Nahmias, Turkey, Istanbul, 1493, Ink on paper, printed, On loan from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Friedberg 00131
This unbound volume is among the earliest printed books produced in the Mediterranean region. Printed in Istanbul in 1493 by brothers David and Samuel Ibn Nahmias, the four volumes of this Hebrew-language treatise concern devotional, ritualistic,…
Group of Sages in Discussion, Iran, Isfahan, 1650, Opaque watercolour, ink on paper, AKM186
A closely packed cluster of sages surrounds the boy at lower left, offering knowledge and advice to the young prince. The diverse group of sheiks and ascetics includes Iranian, Uzbek and Mughal Indian scholars, the books on their laps and writing…
Hebrew Bible (Tanakh: Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim), Spain, Toledo, December 1307 CE / Kislev 5068, Manuscript on parchment, On loan from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Friedberg MSS 5-001
This Hebrew Bible was written and decorated in 1307 in Christian-ruled Toledo at a time when Jewish life in Spain was becoming increasingly difficult, culminating in the final expulsion of Jews as well as Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492.…
Hidden Stories Symposium
HIDDEN STORIES: GLOBAL HISTORY, LOCAL NETWORKS
Virtual Symposium: February 24-25, 2022
Join the Aga Khan Museum for a virtual symposium celebrating the exhibitionHidden Stories: Books Along the Silk Roads, featuring books, scrolls, manuscript…
Hymnal, Turkey, Istanbul, 17th century, On parchment, Binding: leather, tooled and stamped over wood, On loan from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, MSS 01281
This tiny hymnal (Greek, irmologion), a collection of Christian religious songs, may have been produced in Istanbul. The thriving city, formerly known as Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire until 1453, was a vibrant centre for manuscript…