A celebration of the vibrant materiality of Islamic art, as expressed through 115 works of art spanning 13 centuries
Ink, Silk & Gold explores the dynamic and complex traditions of Islamic art through more than 115 works of art drawn from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Works in a range of media are reproduced in full color and exquisite detail--manuscripts inscribed with gold, paintings on silk, elaborate metalwork, intricately woven textiles, luster-painted ceramics and more. These objects, which originated within an Islamic world that ranges from Western Europe to Indonesia and across more than 13 centuries (from the 8th up to the 21st century), share a distinctive relationship to the materials they are made of: their color, shape, texture and technique of production all convey meaning. Many of the objects included are functional as well as aesthetically refined, and their histories as objects that were gifted, sold, bought, modified, collected and displayed are explored in this volume.