The Muslim West
Thanks to its geographical separation from the central Islamic lands, the art of the Muslim West underwent its own distinct stylistic evolution. The first mature style of Western Islamic art arose under the Umayyad Caliphs of Spain, who commissioned luxury objects in precious materials. The inheritance of classical Antiquity still apparent in Spanish Umayyad art gave way, under the puritanical Almoravids and their successors the Almohads, to an austerely beautiful aesthetic in which decoration ranged from minimalistic to elaborately geometric. Subsequent dynasties, such as the Marinids in Morocco, were more drawn to opulent effects, made in expensive materials such as cedarwood. Islamic art in Spain had its final flowering under the Nasrid Dynasty in Granada, who continued to commission luxury objects as well as establishing a tradition of lustre ceramics that would continue in Mudéjar art. After the fall of the Nasrids, Western Islamic art continued in the Maghreb, where traditions like the unique Maghrebi script and geometric ornament provided inspiration for centuries.
Pot from Zamora
Hegira 353 / AD 964
Umayyads of al-Andalus, Caliphate period
National Archaeological Museum
Madrid, Spain
Like many Spanish ivories, this container includes an inscription telling us who it was made for.