This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English, Arabic.

Name of Object:

Muqarnas decoration

Location:

Los Angeles, United States of America

Holding Museum:

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

About Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles

Date of Object:

Hegira 9th century / AD 15th century

Museum Inventory Number:

M.85.237.79

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Earthernware, cuerda seca technique

Dimensions:

Height: 34cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Turkey, Bursa

Description:

Developed in Iran, the cuerda seca technique was designed to produce multicoloured glazed tile decoration quickly, efficiently and cheaply. It was introduced to western Anatolia in the Hegira early 9th century / AD 15th century, probably by a group of Iranian master artists, whose work decorates the Ottoman royal mosque complex in Bursa known as the Green Mosque. An important example of cuerda seca tilework, possibly from the same building complex, is this ceramic revetment moulded in the form of muqarnas (stalactite- or honeycomb-like elements used as decoration in Islamic architecture). It is painted in a typical colour scheme of dark blue, turquoise, white and yellow. Muqarnas elements such as this one were produced in modular units and later set into place on building façades.

How date and origin were established:

The color scheme and cuerda seca technique relate this muqarnas element to the tile decoration of the Green Mosque Complex, Bursa, built between 822-827 Hegira / AD 1419–1424.

How Object was obtained:

Possibly from the Green Mosque complex in Bursa, Turkey.

Joseph Soustiel (1939 - 1999), until 1973 (sale, private sale, Paris, August, 1973, sold to); Edwin Binney, 3rd (1866-1934), Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd, Portland, ME, until 1985 (gifted to); LACMA, The Edwin Binney, 3rd, Collection of Turkish Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

How provenance was established:

The glazing technique and colors are comparable with the tile decoration in the so-called Green Mosque Complex in Bursa.

Selected bibliography:

Binney, Edwin, 3rd and Denny, Walter B., Turkish Treasures from the Collection of Edward Binney, 3rd, Portland, OR: Portland Art Museum, 1979: 204.
Komaroff, Linda, Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Rev. ed., Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 2005: 37, fig. 33.
Komaroff, Linda, Lo Terrenal y lo divino: Arte islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Angeles, Santiago, Chile: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015: 95.
Komaroff, Linda, Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016: 164-165.

Citation of this web page:

LACMA Staff "Muqarnas decoration" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;us;Mus21;5;en

Prepared by: LACMA Staff

MWNF Working Number: US1 05