NK 4670.7 .A78 D4413

Includes bibliographical references (p. 280-[283]) and index

1- The East before the Mongols . 2- The Maghreb and Spain . 3- Iran and Central Asia, Fourteenth to Nineteenth Century . 4- Anatolia and the Levant from the Seljuqs to the Ottomans . 5- The Indian Subcontinent under Islamic Rule .

Islamic ceramic tilework is surely one of the most magnificent forms of decorative art in the world. Through the centuries Islamic potters and craftsmen have displayed a skill and ingenuity that verge on the miraculous. From Morocco in the west to India in the east, their work adorns mosques and minarets, palaces and mausoleums, revealing an extraordinary mastery of form, function, and design. The architecture of the Islamic world represents an incontestable high point in the art of ceramic decoration, and employs an inexhaustible source of decorative motifs: from floral to figurative, from geometric to allegoric, all in sumptuous, vibrant color. The art form continues to amaze and inspire today. This volume presents a broad panorama of Islamic architectural decoration in all it diversity, drawn from a vast area including Spain, North Africa, Turkey, Iran, and the Indian subcontinent. Sumptuous illustrations-- accompanied by a text that places each monument in its historical, architectural, and technological context-- conjure up a dazzling, magical world of fabulously decorated buildings, revealing the secrets of the techniques that made them possible.