Hunt for Paradise: Court Arts of Safavid Iran, 1501 - 1576

Thompson, Jon and Sheila R. Canby [ edited by]

Milan, Italy: Skira, 2003. Softcover. Pictorial wraps. 340 pp. Profuse bw and color plates. VG. Item #32186
ISBN: 9780878480937

This lavish catalog documents the most opulent period of later Persian history through over one hundred twenty-five superlative works of art from public and private collections in Europe, North America and Asia, including Iran. The volume, which examines pieces chosen for their exceptional quality and historical importance, includes works in all media-carpets, paintings, metalwork, ceramics, lacquer and hardstones. Hunt for Paradise is the first exhibition catalog to bring together these treasures from many countries in order to present a unique and comprehensive picture of the art of the Safavid court. This serious and original contribution to the study of Persian art and culture is of the highest quality and includes critical text by leading specialists in the field. Contents as follows: The world of the early Safavids / Sheila R. Canby -- Building on the past: the shaping of the Safavid architecture, 1501-76 / Sussan Babaie -- Calligraphy in the Safavid period 1501-76 / Priscilla Soucek -- Safavid painting / Sheila R. Canby -- Safavid illumination / Sheila R. Canby -- Safavid bookbinding / Zeren Tanindi -- The rise of the lacquer binding / Tim Stanley -- Early Safavid metalwork / James Allan -- Safavid magic bowls / Emilie Savage-Smith -- Sixteenth-century Persian ceramics / Yolanda Crowe -- Chinese ceramics in early Safavid Iran / Regina Krahl -- Early Safavid carpets and textiles / Jon Thompson -- Through a glass darkly? Glimpses of Safavid fashions of the sixteenth century / Jennifer M. Scarce -- The horoscope of Shah Tahmasp / Sergei Tourkin. Published in conjunction with an exhibition held at the Asia Society Museum, New York, Oct. 16, 2003-Jan. 18, 2004 and at the Museo Poldi Pezzoli and Palazzo Reale, Milan, Feb. 23-June 28, 2004.