Textiles of the Islamic World

Description

"Excellent . . . as colorful and as full of joie de vivre as a room full of Matisse paintings." ― The World of Interiors This book surveys the wide array of textiles made, worn, used, and displayed throughout the Islamic world, from the glorious fabrics of the past to those produced today. Hundreds of illustrations feature examples from around the globe, including embroidered Persian prayer clothes, Anatolian ikat coats, Ottoman beaded purses, Caucasian striped silk bags, Berber women’s shawls, Arab tent decorations, Yemeni indigo robes, Indonesian batik sarongs, and West African strip-woven clothes. Region by region, the book provides details of local history, particular textile traditions, materials, dyes, special forms of decoration, and information on current practice. The variety is stunning, from cloths of cotton, hemp, linen, and wool to sumptuous velvets and silks; from quilting, felting, beading, and knitting to block-printing, tie-dying, and hand-weaving on a range of looms. Specially taken color photographs, portraits of weavers in action, and rare archival material complete a remarkable visual panorama. Together with a glossary and a guide to textile collections around the world, this comprehensive survey provides a wealth of information and will be invaluable to anyone interested in textiles, costume, or craft. 638 illustrations, 623 in color Review: Great Overview of a Large Category ot Textiles - The book covers textiles from the Ottoman world, Islamic Spain and north Africa, the Arab world, the Persian world, Central Asia, the Mughal world, east and southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The book aims to provide a broad survey of textiles produced today and in the past by those who profess the faith of Islam. The textiles are characterized by their avoidance of human and animal forms and their use of abstract designs and rich decoration. The techniques used to produce them are embroidery, applique, weaving, ikat and other forms of resist dyeing, block printing, oya (needle woven braid), beadwork, knitting, felting, crochet. The textiles are presented by country within each region. Each country's textiles are accompanied by text describing the historical and economic background in which they were created. If you are looking for a general overview of textiles from these regions, the book will serve your purpose. The photographs are of very high quality and the narrative is engaging. I gave the book a 5 because of the beauty of the cover, the informative narrative and the photographs. For the textiles themselves, I was left with a feeling that I had seen much of it before in other books, but I believe that is because of the "overview" character of the collection. Review: Awesome book!!!!!!! - I highly recommed this book to anyone interested in the history of this subject! John does an excellant job! Their is a chapter dedicated to each region of the Islamic world. It's crammed full of color & blk/white photos!