VIRTUAL GALLERY OF ORIENTAL ART. COLLECTION OF ISLAMIC ART
The collection of Islamic art at the National Museum of Art in Romania is the most significant of its kind in Romania, comprising approximately 1,400 pieces dating from the 7th to the 20th century.
VIRTUAL GALLERY OF ORIENTAL ART. COLLECTION OF ISLAMIC ART
The collection of Islamic art at the National Museum of Art in Romania is the most significant of its kind in Romania, comprising approximately 1,400 pieces dating from the 7th to the 20th century.
Carpets, costumes, and embroideries from Turkey, Iran, Morocco, India, and Central Asia form a representative ensemble, within which several remarkable pieces stand out for their exceptional craftsmanship and materials. One spectacular example is the Isfahan carpet preserved in the Romanian Lands since the early 17th century.
Together, textiles, metal and ceramic vessels, elegantly calligraphed manuscripts, and miniatures reflect the direct historical connections between the Romanian Lands and the Ottoman Empire, providing an eloquent portrayal of Islamic art and the history of Oriental art collecting in Romania.
The virtual gallery was created with the support of BRD - Groupe Société Générale. Arabesque and Colour.
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Arabesc și culoare |
A brief exploration of Islamic art from the collection of the National Museum of Art of Romania delves into some of the most representative objects, whose small "secrets" are unveiled by researchers and restorers.
Collected for their aesthetic qualities, these objects illustrate the values associated with Islamic culture and civilisation, highlighting the power of words and calligraphy, geometry, and decorative motifs. They implicitly evoke the broader context in which they were created and traded, the patterns and ideas they disseminated, connecting Asia and Europe.
The careful examination of each individual object provides insights into the people who made, decorated, purchased, or collected it, as well as the lifestyle characteristic of the era or the environment in which it functioned before becoming a collectible piece.
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Sweet Delight / Bowl (badiye) |
Iran, late 16th century - first quarter of the 17th century |
During the Safavid era (1501 - 1736), vessels with high stems and walls were designated by the term "badiye," an Arabic word used in Persian poetry since the 13th century to indicate the function of a wine bowl. The decoration is arranged in registers, with the main register entirely covered by a continuous composition, typical of the Safavid style, featuring half-palmettes and various floral motifs interconnected by tendrils. The inscription below the rim, contained within five cartouches, is followed by the name of the owner, Mirza Haydar ibn Khwaja Sultani. The text, in Persian language, can be interpreted literally as a wish of good health addressed to the owner of the bowl. However, like other Persian poems, it also carries a mystical undertone, with some words belonging to the technical vocabulary of Sufis:
"O master of the bowl, may you forget all worries,
May the desire of your heart always be close to your chest,
As long as the bowl of the sky and the globe of the sun exist,
May everything you drink from this bowl bring you pleasure."
Mircea Dunca, Islamic Art in the Collections of the National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest 2015, cat. 23.
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Nothing is New Under the Sun / Bowl |
Iran, dated Rabi' II 1082 AH (7th August - 4th September 1671) |
On this large footed bowl, the specific decoration characteristic of the Safavid era art consists of intersecting semi-circular arches, trilobed medallions, tendrils, and flowers arranged in horizontal registers. The Arabic inscription on the continuous band located below the rim of the vessel is written in elegant nasta‘līq calligraphy. The text is a prayer invoking divine blessings upon the "Fourteen Infallibles" (Pers. Čaharda Ma‘sūm), namely Prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatimah, and the twelve imams revered in Twelver Shi'ism. The appearance of this type of inscription in western Iran around the establishment of the Safavid dynasty in 1501 is linked to the religious propaganda of those under whose rule Shi'ism would become the state religion in Iran.
Mircea Dunca, Islamic Art in the Collections of the National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest 2015, cat. 24.
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Fashion and Refinement / Isfahan Carpet |
Central Iran, first half of the 17th century |
Carpets of this type, dating from the late 16th century or the first half of the 17th century, were highly appreciated in Europe, where numerous examples are still preserved. This particular piece, originating from a monastery in Moldavia, testifies to the spread of Iranian carpet fashion in the Romanian Lands, as well as in the rest of 17th-century Europe. Documents from the era, especially those of the Movilă family, mention hundreds of carpets originating from Iran. It is possible, therefore, that this specimen was donated by a very wealthy boyar, or perhaps even a member of the ruling family. Unique in Romania, to our knowledge, the carpet stands out due to the use of silk warp, a technical detail that suggests a possible royal
manufacture as its source. Its relatively small size compared to specimens in other collections, along with its excellent state of preservation, accentuates its value and rarity. The decorative composition is characteristic of Safavid carpets attributed to Isfahan. Composed of palmettes, lotus flowers, tendrils, and stylized Chinese clouds, the decoration is meticulously arranged around a central axis of symmetry, while the chromatic palette is remarkable both in terms of the number of colors used and their freshness, preserved for over three centuries.
Mircea Dunca, Islamic Art in the Collections of the National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest 2015, cat. 2.
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Prayer Carpet "of Transylvania" / |
Turkey, western Anatolia, late 17th century |
In the literature on Oriental carpets, one often encounters the term "Siebenbürger" or "Transylvanian" carpet. The name is explained by the fact that a large number of such carpets, dating from the 17th to the 18th centuries, are preserved in the Saxon churches of Transylvania, making it difficult to attribute them precisely to a specific production center. [...] Many "Transylvanian" carpets exhibit the typical composition of prayer carpets, although the presence of the mihrab motif can be seen merely as a fashion, as these carpets, intended for trade, were often destined for outside the Islamic world.
This particular piece stands out due to the charming detail of the echoes of different colors, as well as the contrast between the open area of the mihrab and the rich decoration of the borders. The motifs, such as rosettes and palmettes, [...] reveal, through their pronounced stylization, a less sophisticated workshop that worked for export.
Mircea Dunca, Islamic Art in the Collections of the National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest 2015, cat. 3.
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A Nearly Global World / Bowl |
Iran, 17th century (?) |
This piece stands out for its painting in two shades of blue (one close to gray), the elegance of the design, and the finesse of the ceramic paste, suggesting an earlier dating compared to other bowls in the collection.
The silhouettes of the four stylized birds, separated by vegetal motifs reminiscent of Chinese art, are perforated with the so-called "rice grain" motifs, generally considered a feature of Chinese ceramics but actually originating from medieval Persian ceramics. Covered with translucent glaze, the perforations enhance the impression of the immateriality of the bird-
decorated register, while the fish and the undulating water plants suggest an aquatic environment, which in Islam carries paradisiacal connotations.
Mircea Dunca - Islamic Art in the Collections of the National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest 2015, cat. 38.
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Historic Upcycling / Narghilea (Qalyan) |
Iran, first half of the 17th century (later mount, probably 19th century) |
The ceramic part, equipped with two openings, has the specific shape of the so-called kendi vessels, which were produced by the Chinese for export as early as the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and imitated for a short period of time by Persian ceramists.
The kendi in the image cannot be studied in its entirety, as certain parts are covered, probably in the 19th century, by the metal mount, in order to transform it into a qalyan (the Persian name for a narghile or hookah). However, the visible areas provide sufficient clues for stylistic classification and comparison with other examples. The decoration in the Chinese style, painted under glaze in two shades of blue and outlined in black, is arranged in five compartments, four of which depict zoomorphic and ornithomorphic representations within an abundant vegetal setting. On the bottom of the vessel, there is a Chinese-style mark similar to those found on two other Persian kendis.
Mircea Dunca, Islamic Art in the Collections of the National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest 2015, cat. 37.
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Ultra-Slim Design / Talismanic Manuscript |
Ottoman Empire, 18th century |
A talisman is an object that protects against evil through the power of words, symbols, or images it contains. The small talismanic manuscript in the museum's collection is a unique piece. When opened, the manuscript presents two aspects: the recto of the nine pages with blue-painted corners, and the verso of seven of them with red-painted corners. Each of the nine blue pages features gold-traced medallion containing religious texts in Arabic. These texts record almost all ninety-nine names of Allah, and at the end, reference is made to "the seven of Ephesus" and the dog Qitmir. On the pages with red corners, several divine names are inscribed within compartments of a square, surrounded by three registers of religious inscriptions and one with "cabalistic" signs. The Arabic letters are not connected to enhance their magical efficacy.
Mircea Dunca, Islamic Art in the Collections of the National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest 2015, cat. 53.
