Text and Image in Medieval Persian Art - (Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Art) by Sheila S Blair (Paperback)

About the Book

Focusing on 5 objects found in the main media from the 10th to the 16th century - ceramics, metalware, painting, architecture and textiles - Sheila S. Blair shows how Greater Iranian artisans played with form, material and decoration to engage their audiences.

Book Synopsis

Focusing on 5 objects found in the main media at the time - ceramics, metalware, painting, architecture and textiles - Sheila S. Blair shows how artisans played with form, material and decoration to engage their audiences. She also shows how the reception of these objects has changed and that their present context has implications for our understanding of the past. Greater Iranian arts from the 10th to the 16th century are technically some of the finest produced anywhere. They are also intellectually engaging, showing the lively interaction between the verbal and the visual arts.

From the Back Cover

Investigates the interaction between word and image in medieval Persian art through a series of case studies Technically some of the finest produced anywhere, the artworks created in greater Iran from the tenth to the sixteenth century are also intellectually engaging in showing the lively interaction between the verbal and the visual arts. Focusing on five objects produced in the main media used during this period (ceramics, metalwares, architecture, illustrated manuscripts, and textiles), this beautifully illustrated study shows how artisans played with form, material, and decoration to engage and "speak to" their audiences. It also shows how the reception of these objects has changed and demonstrates that their present context - whether on a museum shelf or in the middle of an excavation - has implications for our understanding of the past. Each chapter begins with a careful study of the object and moves to broader theories of function, reception, and display. Key Features - Includes over 100 colour illustrations of the objects and buildings explored in the text - Studies five different media: ceramics, metalwares, architecture, illustrated manuscripts, and textiles - Looks at what happened to the objects since production and the impact of their current display - Gives a nuanced view of Persian art in the context of Iranian history Sheila S. Blair is Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College and Hamad Bin Khalifa Endowed Chair of Islamic Art at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has written and edited numerous books on all aspects of Islamic art, including Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh University Press, 2006). Cover image: Humay After His Wedding (c) The British Library Board (Add. 18113, f.45v). Cover design: Cathy Sprent. [EUP logo] www.euppublishing.com

Review Quotes

Beautifully produced and extensively illustrated.--D.H. KENNETT "British Brick Society Information"

Sheila Blair is an acknowledged world authority on epigraphy and this book is a scrutiny of five specific examples, arranged chronologically.--Jane Jakeman "The Art Newspaper"

This splendid new book by one of the leading scholars of Islamic art manages that most difficult task--making a serious contribution to scholarship while being accessible to a wide range of readers and attractive to them. It is not a survey but five case studies: a 10th-century ceramic bowl, a 12th-century copper alloy rosewater sprinkler, a 14th-century tomb, a 15th-century manuscript painting, and a 16th-century carpet. Blair (Boston College; Virginia Commonwealth Univ.) beautifully describes and analyzes each in its immediate and its broadest historical context. Each object works like a pebble thrown into water, producing expanding circles of related objects, people involved in its manufacture and commission, and later works in its tradition or directly reflecting it in some way. The stories are diverse but fascinating and often end with consideration of the works in today's world. The writing is clear and accessible. Scholars will appreciate the many new insights and remarkably rich and current bibliography. The many illustrations, most in color, are of splendid quality. Individual chapters or the book as a whole would be suitable for use in college courses.'--L. Nees, University of Delaware "CHOICE"

About the Author

Sheila S. Blair is Norma Jean Calderwood Chair of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College and Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair of Islamic Art, Virginia Commonwealth University.