The Pilgrim Art
The Pilgrim Art

Author: Robert Finlay

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2010-02-17

Total Pages: 461

ISBN-13: 0520945387

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Illuminating one thousand years of history, The Pilgrim Art explores the remarkable cultural influence of Chinese porcelain around the globe. Cobalt ore was shipped from Persia to China in the fourteenth century, where it was used to decorate porcelain for Muslims in Southeast Asia, India, Persia, and Iraq. Spanish galleons delivered porcelain to Peru and Mexico while aristocrats in Europe ordered tableware from Canton. The book tells the fascinating story of how porcelain became a vehicle for the transmission and assimilation of artistic symbols, themes, and designs across vast distances—from Japan and Java to Egypt and England. It not only illustrates how porcelain influenced local artistic traditions but also shows how it became deeply intertwined with religion, economics, politics, and social identity. Bringing together many strands of history in an engaging narrative studded with fascinating vignettes, this is a history of cross-cultural exchange focused on an exceptional commodity that illuminates the emergence of what is arguably the first genuinely global culture.

The Ottoman Empire and the World Around it
The Ottoman Empire and the World Around it

Author: Suraiya Faroqhi

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2005-12-20

Total Pages: 467

ISBN-13: 0857730231

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In Islamic law the world was made up of the 'House of Islam' and the 'House of War' with the Ottoman Sultan - successor to the early Caliphs - as supreme ruler of the Islamic world. However, in this ground-breaking study of the Ottoman Empire in the early modern period, Suraiya Faroqhi demonstrates that there was no 'iron curtain' between the Ottoman and 'other' worlds but rather a long-established network of connections - diplomatic, trading and financial., cultural and religious. These extended beyond regional contacts to the empires of Asia and the burgeoning 'modern' states of Europe - England, France, the Netherlands and Venice. Of course, military conflict was a constant factor in these relationships, but the overriding reality was 'one world' and contact between cultured and pragmatic elites - even 'gentlemen travelling for pleasure' - as well as pilgrimage and close artistic contact with the European Renaissance. Faroqhi's book is based on a huge study of original and early modern sources, including diplomatic records, travel and geographical writing, as well as personal accounts. Its breadth and originality will make it essential reading for historians of Europe and the Middle East.

1001 Inventions
1001 Inventions

Author: Salim T. S. Al-Hassani

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 1426209347

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Modern society owes a tremendous amount to the Muslim world for the many groundbreaking scientific and technological advances that were pioneered during the Golden Age of Muslim civilization between the 7th and 17th centuries. Every time you drink coffee, eat a three-course meal, get a whiff of your favorite perfume, take shelter in an earthquake-resistant structure, get a broken bone set or solve an algebra problem, it is in part due to the discoveries of Muslim civilization.

In Pursuit of Beauty
In Pursuit of Beauty

Author: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)

Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 513

ISBN-13: 0870994689

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"This project is the first comprehensive study of a phenomenon that not only dominated the American arts of the 1870s and 1880s, but also helped set the course of such later developments in the United States as the Arts and Crafts movement, the indigenous interpretation of Art Nouveau, and even the rise of modernism. In fact, the early history of the Metropolitan--its founding, its sponsorship of a school of industrial design, and its display of decorative works--is inextricably tied to the Aesthetic movement and its educational goals. "In Pursuit of Beauty: Americans and the Aesthetic Movement" comprised some 175 objects including furniture, metalwork, stained glass, ceramics, textiles, wallpaper, painting, and sculpture. Some of these had rarely been displayed; others, although familiar, were being shown in new and even startling contexts. The exhibition and catalogue are arranged thematically to illustrate both the major styles of a visually rich movement and the ideas that generated its diversity"--From publisher's description.

A Short History of the Middle Ages
A Short History of the Middle Ages

Author: Barbara H. Rosenwein

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781442636231

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"In this bestselling book, Barbara H. Rosenwein integrates the history of three medieval civilizations (European, Byzantine, and Islamic) in a dynamic narrative that is complemented by exquisite illustrations and maps. In the new edition, Rosenwein makes significant additions to the Islamic and Mediterranean material as well as to the coverage of Eurasian connections. The maps now show topographical differences as well as changes over time, eighteen new plates highlight the art and architecture of the Islamic and Byzantine worlds, and genealogies and the plans for a mosque are now included. New essays have also been added in order to introduce readers to the analysis of material culture."--