What does Islamic Art encompass?
The term Islamic Art can be defined in two ways. First there is the art which relates to the religion of Islam and which is non-figural. This encompasses qur’ans, prayer rugs and anything that relates to the mosque and the religion of Islam. Islamic art can also be defined as that which comes from Islamic countries and countries where Islam has been present at one time, for example in India, Central Asia, Andalusia as well as the Middle East. Our sales deal with all of the artistic production from these regions. Figural imagery, that is to say, images of people and animals have always been popular in the courts and palaces of regions under Islamic rule and secular art reflects this. With so many disparate cultures and tradition and pieces originating from many different countries, what is that binds a sale entitled ‘Indian and Islamic Works of Art’? The Muslims first arrived in India at the end of the 12th century and ruled until the 19th century with the end of the Mughal Empire. This
