Islamic metal art

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Ilkhanid water basin with hunting scenes, copper with silver inlay, Iran, 1330–1360

The Islamic metal art in addition to the ceramic and the artistic glass , wood, rock crystal , ivory and textile weaving and knotting one of the most important branches of the Islamic arts and crafts . She shaped objects of daily use into high-quality works of art that could serve their owners as status symbols, initially continuing late antiquity and Sassanid traditions before developing very own forms, especially from the 12th century, and reaching a first heyday.

History of Islamic Metal Art

Bulbous jug with a dragon-shaped handle from Afghanistan , around 1500–1525
The griffin of Pisa

The earliest Islamic metal goods were found in Jordan and date back to the Umayyad period . They still show a strong Byzantine and Sassanid influence. Early production facilities were in Northern Iran and Khorasan , but above all in Herat and later in Mosul : The Nisba designations al-Harawī ('from Herat') and al-Mausilī ('from Mosul') were often used by metal artists as a decoration Mastery if they did not come from either location.

Compared to the previous tradition, Islamic metalwork had a stronger tendency towards abstraction and stylization and a flatter execution of reliefs. Geometric and vegetable patterns with loosening medallions took the place of the predominantly figurative decorations from the Sassanid period, but did not completely replace them. Since the objects were often melted down in times of crisis, many forms of this art have been lost over the centuries. Particularly high-quality metalwork made of gold and silver, however, has sometimes been described in contemporary literature. Of historical and artistic value in the novel are Tauschierungsverfahren objects made with precious metals deposits, which were produced mainly from the 12th to the 15th century.

Examples of Islamic metal handicrafts can mainly be found in the form of ornate water basins and jugs, magical bowls, candlesticks, mosque lights, vessels for incense, chests for storing Koran manuscripts , filigree mechanical devices, especially astrolabes , jewelry, weapons, coins and also luxury tableware, though the latter was rather deprecated as an exaggerated ostentation by Islamic tradition. Aquamaniles in bird and griffin shape are among the rarer examples of figurative Islamic art . Presumably, the craftsmen used in their technique here on experience that other masters in Sindh , West India and Kashmir had previously gained in the production of Buddha statues from brass. An outstanding example of this art is the griffin of Pisa , made in the 11th century , a gargoyle over a meter high, which was probably captured by the Republic of Pisa from Fatimid hands.

In comparison to ceramics, for example, metalwork is signed noticeably more often, which shows the appreciation of the artist and buyer for these objects. At the same time, unlike in calligraphic art and miniature painting , there are only a few biographies of the masters.

Materials and manufacturing processes

Mamluk incense ball , late 15th or early 16th century

The starting materials were mostly bronze or brass . Both materials were used unspecifically in medieval Arabic texts Sufr  /صفرcalled, which sometimes makes a clear assignment difficult. A high proportion of tin gave the work a golden tone and made processing easier. Often the metals were poured into wax models that the artists let melt away after the work was finished. Reusable wooden models later enabled repeated castings and mass production in full cast. Clay models often served as templates. Stylistic innovations in metalwork were often carried over to other branches of Islamic art, the important luster technique of ceramics explicitly attempted to imitate the luster of metalwork .

The engineer al-Dschazarī , who worked in the 12th century , provided detailed information on the technology of serial casting and the swapping process in his writings. The precious metals used for deposits were mainly silver and, more rarely, gold , copper and niello , which often resulted in multiple colors. Under the Mughal rulers in India, metal objects made of zinc, the so-called bidri goods, also came into fashion from the 16th century.

Distribution and collections

Islamic metal goods spread from their place of manufacture across the region and reached China, Russia and, via the Mediterranean, Scandinavia as export goods and as diplomatic gifts. In Venice in the early modern period, it was above all the plasterwork that was often imitated and copied. In Germany today , the collection of the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin compiled by Friedrich Sarre , some of which was donated from his private collection, and the collection of the University Museum of Islamic Art in Bamberg based on the Bumiller Collection are of particular importance.

literature

  • Eva Baer: Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art . State University of New York Press, Albany 1983.
  • Géza Fehérvári: Islamic Metalwork of the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection . Faber & Faber, London 1976.
  • Almut von Gladiß : shine and substance. Metalwork in the collection of the Museum of Islamic Art (8th to 17th centuries) . Edition Minerva, Berlin 2012.
  • Leo Ary Mayer: Islamic Metalworkers and Their Works . A. Kundig, Geneva 1959.
  • Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani: Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World. 8th-18th Centuries. Victoria and Albert Museum, London 1982.
  • Umberto Scerrato: Metalli islamici. Fabbri, Milan 1966.

Web links

Commons : Islamic Metal Art  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A characteristic example of these early goods is the bronze brazier from the hoard of Qasr al-Fudain in al-Mafraq. Compare with this Jean-Baptiste Humbert: El-Fedein / Mafraq . In: Contribution Française à l'Archéologie Française Jordanienne , Amman 1989, pp. 125–131.
  2. ↑ a b c Almut von Gladiß: Islamic metal art . In: Markus Hattstein, Peter Dellus (ed.): Islam. Art and architecture . Könemann, Cologne 2000, pp. 202–205. On Mosul, see also Robert Irwin: Islamic Art . DuMont, Cologne, 1998, p. 146.
  3. ↑ Sheila Blair, Jonathan Bloom: Iraq, Iran and Egypt (8th – 13th centuries). The Abbasids and their Successors . In: Markus Hattstein, Peter Dellus (ed.): Islam. Art and Architecture , pp. 88–127; here p. 123.
  4. ^ Martina Müller-Wiener: The art of the Islamic world. Reclam, Stuttgart, 2012, p. 58.
  5. ↑ Almut von Gladiß: Shine and Substance. Metalwork in the collection of the Museum of Islamic Art (8th to 17th centuries) . Edition Minerva, Berlin 2012, pp. 72–89.
  6. ↑ Compare in particular Ernst Langer: Islamic magic bowls and plates made of metal. Medicine bowls and fortune telling plates as well as love bowls and plates . MV-Wissenschaft publisher, Münster 2013.
  7. ^ Eva Baer: Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art . State University of New York Press, Albany 1983, pp. 6-121.
  8. ↑ Almut von Gladiß: Shine and Substance , p. 23.
  9. ^ Marilyn Jenkins: New evidence for the history and provenance of the so-called Pisa Griffin . In: Islamic Archaeological Studies 5, 1978, pp. 79-81.
  10. ^ Robert Irwin: Islamic Art , p. 147.
  11. ↑ Donald R. Hill (Ed.): The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari . Reidel, Dordrecht 1974.
  12. ↑ Susan Stronge: Bidri Ware. Inlaid Metalwork from India . Victoria and Albert Museum, London 1985.
  13. ↑ Almut von Gladiß: Shine and Substance , p. 120 ff.
  14. ^ Friedrich Sarre, Eugen Wednesday: Collection F. Sarre. Products of Islamic Art. Part I: metal. Commission publisher by Karl W. Hiersemann / New edition 2015 Vero Verlag Norderstedt, Leipzig 1906, ISBN 978-3-7372-2711-7 .
  15. ↑ Almut von Gladiß: Sarre's penchant for Islamic metalwork - early acquisitions . In: Jens Kröger (Hrsg.): Islamic art in Berlin collections. 100 years of the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin . Parthas, Berlin 2005, pp. 72-81.
  16. ^ Website of the University Museum of Islamic Art, Bamberg , accessed on April 23, 2019.