Moya Carey

This beautifully illustrated book explores the rich heritage of Islamic art. Starting with the original Arab-style courtyard mosques, it traces the development of mosque architecture over the centuries and in different cultures. Meticulously researched, with more than 500 colour photographs and artworks, the book provides an essential overview of Islamic art and architecture. From architectural monuments to pottery, carpet and costume, it embraces the range of Islamic artistic achievement, including the form revered by Muslims as the highest and purest of them all - calligraphy, the elegant decorative writing that represents the sacred words of God as revealed in the Quran.

Today the Victoria and Albert Museum holds extensive and renowned collections of Iranian art, spanning at least twelve centuries of Iran's sophisticated cultural history. These objects range from archaeological finds to architectural salvage, from domestic furnishings and drinking vessels to design archives. Most of this diverse material was purchased in the late nineteenth century, over a few decades - roughly between 1873 and 1893 - during a specific period of contact between Victorian Britain and Qajar Iran. This book investigates that period through four case studies, showing how architects, diplomats, dealers, collectors and craftsmen engaged with Iran's complex visual traditions, ancient and modern.

Published on the occasion of an important international loan exhibition at The Azerbaijan Carpet Museum in Baku, this multi-author book is much more than a mere catalogue. Written by a team of international museum professionals and independent scholars, it is the first co-ordinated and detailed study of the West Caspian region's characteristic silk embroideries. The book traces the history of embroidery in the Caucasus, the multi-cultural sources of domestic embroidery iconography and designs in which the textile traditions of the Iranian and Turkic worlds meet, materials and needlework techniques, as well as the relationship between embroidery and the pile carpet weaving tradition in the region.

An illustrated exploration of a vibrant cultural heritage and its artistic and architectural wonders.