Journal of Ottoman Calligraphy

Harvard’s collection of Islamic and later Indian art is small but magnificent. It comprises a broad range of works, from Samanid pottery and Mamluk calligraphy to Qajar lacquers and Ottoman textiles. The department is particularly strong, however, in painting. Its masterpieces, which rank among the finest in the United States, include a group of miniatures from the extraordinary 14th-century Great Mongol (”Demotte”) Shahnama, the Safavid master Mir Sayyid-’Ali’s Night-time in a Palace, and the miniatures of the “pocket-size” Divan of Anvari produced for the Mughal emperor Akbar. The department also has one of the most important representations of Rajasthani painting in the world.

The over 2,500 items in the collection include:

Fragment of a Velvet YastikPaintings and drawings from the Arab, Il Khanid, Timurid, Safavid, Qajar, Ottoman, Sultanate, Mughal, Deccani, Rajput, and British India periods; Illuminations; Calligraphy; Qur’ans and other manuscripts; Ceramics and tiles; Metalwork, including arms and armor; Textiles and rugs. The collection is displayed in thematically-oriented exhibitions in the Islamic Gallery on the second floor of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum.

About Sackler Museum

The Arthur M. Sackler Museum houses superb collections of ancient, Islamic, Asian, and later Indian art. Among its treasures are the world’s finest collections of archaic Chinese jades and Japanese surimono, as well as outstanding Chinese bronzes, ceremonial ancient weapons, and Buddhist cave-temple sculpture; Chinese and Korean ceramics; and Japanese woodblock prints, calligraphy, narrative paintings, and lacquer boxes. The Sackler is also home to paintings, drawings, and calligraphy from Iran, India, and Turkey, as well as to one of America’s most important teaching collections of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Near Eastern art, with significant holdings of Greek and Roman sculpture, Greek vases, and ancient coins.

Harvard University Art Museums
32 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA 02138, (617) 495-9400

The Harvard University Art Museums are one of the world’s leading arts institutions, with the Arthur M. Sackler, Busch-Reisinger, and Fogg art museums, the Straus Center for Conservation, the Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art, the HUAM Archives, and the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, in Turkey.

The Harvard University Art Museums are distinguished by the range and depth of their collections, their groundbreaking exhibitions, and the original research of their staff. As an integral part of the Harvard community, the three art museums and four research centers serve as resources for all students, adding a special dimension to their areas of study. The public is welcome to experience the collections and exhibitions as well as to enjoy lectures, symposia, and other programs.

For more than a century, the Harvard University Art Museums have been the nation’s premier training ground for museum professionals and scholars and are renowned for their role in the development of the discipline of art history in this country.

Islamic and Later Indian Art
email: erinhyde@fas.harvard.edu
phone: (617) 495 - 1195
Mailing Address: Arthur M. Sackler Museum, 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Source: The Arthur M. Sackler Museum