February 10, 2016–July 30, 2017
Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gallery, Gallery 380
A selection of some 50 historical examples of Islamic arms and armor, which represent the breadth and depth of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s renowned holdings in this area, will be featured in the installation Arms and Armor from the Islamic World, opening February 10. Focusing primarily on the courts of the Mamluk and Ottoman sultans, shahs of Iran, and Mughal emperors of India, the exhibition celebrates the publication of Islamic Arms and Armor in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum’s first scholarly volume on the subject.
Highlights of the installation include the earliest documented Islamic sword, a ninth-century example discovered in 1939 in the Museum’s excavations at Nishapur, Iran; a magnificent Ottoman helmet embellished with pious Qur’anic verses in gold and a luxurious gold-encrusted saber bearing inscriptions praising King Solomon (Süleyman)—both from the time of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520–66); and a dagger covered with a mosaic of rubies and emeralds made in the court workshops of the Mughal emperor Jahangir (r. 1605–27). Also on view will be several works that have not been exhibited for decades.
Spanning 10 centuries and a vast geographic area—from Spain to Southeast Asia—the collection of Islamic arms and armor at the Metropolitan Museum is the largest and most renowned in the Western hemisphere. In addition to the special installation, Islamic arms and armor are on display at all times in the galleries of the Department of Arms and Armor (
Gallery 379) and the Department of Islamic Art (
Gallery 455,
Koç Family Galleries 459,
Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Gallery 462, and
Gallery 463).
Created by highly specialized metalworkers—mail makers, armorers, swordsmiths, and gunmakers—and enriched by goldsmiths, jewelers, calligraphers, painters, ivory carvers, and leather workers, the finest examples of Islamic arms and armor were sophisticated and opulent works of art. As a form of masculine jewelry, these ingeniously crafted, gold-damascened and bejeweled works were especially prized as symbols of wealth, status, and power.
The installation was organized by Stuart W. Pyhrr, Distinguished Research Curator, Department of Arms and Armor.
Islamic Arms and Armor in The Metropolitan Museum of Art was written by David G. Alexander, an independent scholar specializing in Islamic arms, with contributions by Stuart W. Pyhrr and Will Kwiatkowski, an independent scholar specializing in Persian, Arabic, and Turkish epigraphy. More than 120 works of artistic merit and historical importance are discussed in the lavishly illustrated book. The book, which has 348 pages and 400 color illustrations, is published by the Metropolitan Museum and distributed by Yale University Press, and will be available in the Museum’s book shops (hardcover, $85).
The publication is made possible by the Grancsay Fund and The Jessica E. Smith and Kevin R. Brine Charitable Fund.
The exhibition will be featured on the Museum’s
website, as well as on
Facebook,
Instagram, and
Twitter via the hashtag #IslamicArmsandArmor.
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Updated March 13, 2017
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