Mamluk Art

The book contains published papers of the conference 'Textiles & Identity in the Medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean: Paradigms of Contexts and Cross-Cultural Exchanges' of the British School at Athens held at the (Benaki) Museum of Islamic Art in 2016, as well as some new contributions. The focus in this varied collection of studies by key scholars in the field is on textiles and their functions in various Mediterranean contexts (and beyond) during Medieval and Post-Medieval times (ca. 10th-19th c.). The scope of the contributions encompasses archaeological, anthropological and art historical perspectives on diverse subjects, such as textiles from the Byzantine Empire and the Medieval Islamic World (e.g. Spain, Mamluk Egypt, Seljuk Anatolia), Italy, the Ottoman Empire, Armenia and Ethiopia. The volume offers a state-of-the-art of an often still hardly known scope in studies of textiles as historical and cultural sources of information, which makes it essential reading for scholars and a larger audience alike.The book includes contributions by Avinoam Shalem, Scott Redford, Marielle Martiniani-Reber, Dickran Kouymjian, Laura Rodríguez Peinado, Ana Cabrera-Lafuente, Vera-Simone Schulz, Nikolaos Vryzidis, Elena Papastavrou, Jacopo Gnisci and Maria Sardi.

In 2018, the Egyptian Heritage Rescue Foundation (EHRF) launched a two-year project to document the minbars (stepped pulpits) made during Mamluk sultanate (1250-1517), and still present in many religious monuments in Egypt and international collections. In this paper I present explain why the project was conceived and how it was delivered. I describe the efforts made by the EHRF team to restore, conserve and protect these masterpieces of Mamluk art. The project was funded by the British Council's Cultural Protection Fund. It was implemented in partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

This article seeks to identify the source of inspiration for the decorative motifs encountered on Mamluk textiles, which often exemplify a fusion of designs from different regions. It investigates the ways in which Mamluk artisans adopted and incorporated foreign elements into their decorative repertoire, creating a distinct Mamluk style. The designation ‘Mamluk textiles’ is used here for fabrics of various materials manufactured in the period between 1250 and 1517 in the realm of the Mamluk sultanate (modern Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine). Loom-patterned fabrics, mostly silks, are discussed first. Produced by weavers in workshops that were either state- or privately-owned, these fabrics best illustrate the interrelationship between textile patterns from different cultures. Next, the focus is on embroideries and printed examples, although they are less indicative of foreign influences. Finally, an attempt will be made to attribute specific fabrics to Syrian or to Egyptian ateliers, based on the comparative study of textile patterns and motifs encountered in other forms of art.

Winner of the Nikolaos V. Drandakis Prize for 2019-20, Christian Archaeological Society.

The collection of the Docheiariou monastery, held on Mount Athos, contains a Veneto-Saracenic inlaid candleholder decorated with a European coat of arms. While the object itself is a modest, unremarkable example of Mamluk-Latin cultural interaction, its unexpected location in the sacristy of a Greek Orthodox monastery makes for a complex case study. This article, besides presenting this previously unpublished object for the first time, presents a discussion of the dynamic behind the candleholder’s reception and the network through which it could have reached Mount Athos. It considers several important questions and serves as a starting point for a renewed analysis of interconnectivity in the eastern Mediterranean during the late Middle Ages. Finally, the article also explores neglected channels of direct and indirect interrelation between Byzantine and Mamluk aesthetics.

This research traces Nile scenes on wall reliefs and applied arts during the Coptic and Islamic eras, from the fourth to the fourteenth century. The most common scenes of the Nile were those dedicated to fishing, sailing and those representing living creatures associated with the Nile as birds, plants and fish. The research also highlights the difference between artistic topics covered during two periods; Coptic and Islamic and discusses permission and prohibition in the representation of living creatures in Christian and Islamic periods, based on models and applied arts.

Les blasons chez les musulmans, leurs formes, leur origine et leur fonction, est un sujet qui a fait couler beaucoup d’encre. Il existait diverses sortes de blasons, personnel ou fonctionnel, simples ou composés, temporels ou permanents.
Cette recherche traite un blason fonctionnel d’une importance primordiale, et qui est figuré sur divers monuments et pièces d’arts appliqués, c’est le blason du calice, attribué aux échansons; une charge assez sensible dans la cour du sultan et dont le responsable devait, à l’époque, jouissait d’une confiance ultime de la part du sultan pour la remplir.
Parmi les divers arts appliqués, cette recherche met l’accent sur les différentes formes du blason de la coupe, apparues sur les tapis mameloukes, sans doute, considérés comme des pièces artistiques distinctes dont les techniques de la fabrication ainsi que les couleurs lui offrent une identité unique. 
Les musées d’arts à l’étranger comportent des chefs- d’œuvres des tapis fabriqués en Egypte sous les mameloukes, la présente contribution en analyse quelques pièces, comportant le blason d’échanson sous différentes formes et couleurs.
Mots –clés: Tapis, mamelouke, blason, calice, échanson, arts appliqués.