The Madina Collection of Islamic Art at the LACMA

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The Madina Collection of Islamic Art at the LACMA

Introduction

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) announced recently that it had acquired “the remarkable Madina Collection of Islamic art. The collection contains works of various media dating from the late 7th through 19th centuries from the vast areas that comprise the Islamic world, from Southern Spain to Central Asia” (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2005). While the museum already had quite an extensive collection of Islamic art, this particular exhibit truly adds the collections as a whole.

The Madina Collection of Islamic Art

The first item to be examined is a bowl from the 14th century, from either Egypt or Syria (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2005). It is ceramic, fritware and is underglazed-painted (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2005). It is 10 and ¾ inches in diameter. The design is very symmetrical and incredibly colorful in its green and cream along with black lines. Without knowing what the design symbolizes one could imagine that it is very much an Islamic design, and appears to be religious or spiritual in content. There is a Mandela presence to the design, with very strong lines and striking elements. http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=record&key=8533

The next piece to be examined is cup from the 13th century, from Greater Iran. This cup is “Silver, gilded, chased and punched” and measures “3 7/8 x 4 5/8 in. (9.84 x 11.75 c...

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