LONDON, ENGLAND.- The V&A will open the new Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art on Thursday 20 July 2006. The highlight will be the Ardabil carpet, the world’s oldest dated carpet, and one of the largest, most beautiful and historically important in the world. Made in Iran in 1539 the carpet will be the centre-piece of the new Jameel Gallery, which has been redesigned so that it can be displayed horizontally at floor level, as it would originally have been. Measuring an impressive 10.5m x 5m and described by William Morris as a design of ‘singular perfection’, it is a masterpiece of Islamic art.

The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art will house treasures from the V&A’s collection of more than 10,000 Islamic objects made in the Middle East, one of the most extensive and renowned in the world. The Gallery has been made possible thanks to a substantial donation from the Jameel family. It has been dedicated to the memory of Mr Abdul Latif Jameel, the late founder of the Abdul Latif Jameel Group, and his wife Nafisa, by Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, their son.

A three-year-long renovation and re-design of the V&A’s Islamic Gallery has created an outstanding new home for the collection. The new Jameel Gallery will house over 400 objects, including ceramics, textiles, carpets, metalwork, glass and woodwork, which date from the great days of the Islamic caliphate of the 8th and 9th centuries to the years preceding the First World War. The area covered stretches from Spain in the west to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan in the east, taking in important centres of artistic production in the Arab lands, Turkey and Iran.

Precious objects such as an exquisite rock crystal ewer from 11th century Egypt and an ivory casket made in 11th century Spain will be on show, reflecting the sophistication of the Islamic courts. The casket’s decoration includes scenes of refined court life, with men drinking wine and enjoying the scent of flowers while listening to music.

Other displays will show the great skill and ingenuity of Islamic craftsmen, and illustrate the region’s religious life. An outstanding example is a richly decorated minbar (or pulpit) commissioned for a mosque in Cairo by Sultan Qa’itbay, who ruled Egypt in the late 15th century.

Mark Jones, Director of the V&A, said: “The Jameel Gallery will provide a showcase for the V&A’s acclaimed collection of Islamic art in all its beautiful and varied forms, religious and secular. We hope it will help people to appreciate one of the world’s great cultures and spread a deeper understanding of Islamic art.”

Mr. Mohammed Jameel, President and CEO of the Abdul Latif Jameel Group, whose headquarters are in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia said: “I am delighted and honoured that the V&A’s new Islamic Gallery is dedicated to the memory of my parents. Our family has a keen interest in world cultures and promoting understanding between them, and a commitment to increasing understanding of the Islamic world. The international exhibition has been a resounding success with over 285,000 people worldwide having seen it. It gives us great pleasure to be able to help the V&A display its superb collection of Islamic treasures in a way that will delight and educate more people than ever.”

HIGHLIGHTS: The Ardabil carpet was commissioned as one of a pair by the ruler of Iran, Shah Tahmasp, for the shrine of his ancestor, Shaykh Safi al-Din, in the town of Ardabil in north-west Iran. It is the world’s earliest dated carpet, since it is inscribed at one end with the date 946 in the Muslim calendar, which is equivalent to 1539-40. Its whole surface is covered by a single unified design, an outstanding achievement in any period.

The sword of Shah Tahmasp. This impressive weapon was made for the same great patron of the arts as the Ardabil carpet. It is inscribed with a long, very elegant inscription from the Qur’an on the subject of ‘Victory’. Another inscription gives the lineage of Shah Tahmasp, tracing it back to Musa al-Kazim, a descendant of Muhammad.

Mosque lamp from the Süleymaniye mosque in Istanbul. This dramatic object, made c. 1557, is the earliest example of Iznik pottery with under-glaze decoration in red, a difficult colour to produce.
The Isfahan cope. This unique Church vestment was made in Isfahan, Iran, in the 17th century. It is similar to a Western cope in its semi-circular form, but it was worn by an Armenian priest to celebrate Mass. The design includes Islamic elements such as scrollwork motifs as well as Christian iconography.

The rock crystal ewer from Egypt was made c. 1000-50 for the treasury of the ruling Fatimid caliphs. It was carved with consummate skill from a single large piece of extremely hard, perfectly transparent rock crystal – in places it is only a few millimetres thick. On either side a bird of prey overcomes an antelope, symbolising the caliph’s power.

Sultan Qa’itbay’s richly decorated minbar (or pulpit) was commissioned for a mosque in Cairo where it was used for the sermons given during the midday prayer on Fridays. The wooden structure is more than six metres high and is notable for its decoration with geometric designs of great beauty and complexity. These were made by fitting together hundreds of small, carefully shaped pieces of wood, many of which are set with carved plaques of ivory.

Sultan Qa’itbay’s basin. Dating from 1468-96, this brass basin bears inscriptions glorifying Sultan Qa’itbay. The Sultan revived the production of inlaid metalwork, which had all but ceased during the 15th century. A brass ewer was also made for the Sultan’s wife and is inscribed with her name, Fatimah. Naming a female patron was rare and the decoration, too, is unusual for the period, as it shows animals.

A tile-top table from Turkey, made about 1560. Many large polygonal tiles survive from the Ottoman period, but this is one of the very few that still serves its original purpose, as a table top. The sides are decorated with ebony, inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl.

The Málaga ship bowl was produced at the beginning of the 15th century in Málaga, Spain by craftsmen using the lustreware technique invented in Iraq in the 9th century. Much of the lusterware produced in Málaga was exported to cities from London to Cairo, and the bowl may have been intended for a Portuguese client, as it shows a long-haul sailing ship with the arms of Christian-ruled Portugal.

The Seven Sleepers tilework chimney-piece, made in Istanbul and dated 1731. The names around the hood are those of the Seven Sleepers. Persecuted under the Roman emperor Decius, the Christian men took refuge in a cave. They fell asleep, waking centuries later under Christian rule.