MEMPHIS IN MAY:
MALAYSIA
MAY 1 – MAY 31, 2023
NEW ACQUISITIONS GALLERY
image: Ewer, Circa 19th century AD/13th century AH. Copper alloy; cast and engraved. Courtesy of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Introduction to Islamic Metalwork
​
The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur first opened its door to the public in December 1998. Over the past twenty-five years, the museum’s permanent Islamic arts collection has expanded greatly to cover the different periods, geography and artistic traditions of the Islamic world. About 2,500 objects are on display in the museum’s twelve permanent galleries, which includes the Metalwork Gallery on the second floor.
​
The Metalwork Gallery at IAMM showcases items exemplary of the art of Islamic metalworking. Key among those displayed are the metal objects made in the royal ateliers of Mamluk Egypt and Syria, as well as those produced by the regional workshops in Safavid and Qajar Persia, Mughal India and Ottoman Turkey.
​
Selected from IAMM’s Islamic metalwork collection are artefacts showing various decorative techniques such as embossing, engraving, inlaying and gilding. They also typify the rich repertoire of decorative patterns — vegetal, floral, figural, geometric and calligraphic — as is widely envisioned in Islamic metalwork.
