Carpets from Islamic Lands

Among the most beautiful and precious textiles in the world, carpets from Islamic lands have been treasured for centuries on nearly every continent on earth. Prized by European monarchs and traded as far afield as Tibet and the Americas, these woven and knotted masterpieces are both distinguished works of art and revealing utilitarian objects that offer a rare glimpse of life in the Islamic world. The third volume in Thames & Hudson's celebrated series cataloguing the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, Carpets from Islamic Lands features more than forty of the finest classical carpets created in Egypt, Turkey, Persia, the Caucasus and India between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, along with several important pre-Islamic carpet fragments. Carpet and textile expert Friedrich Spuhler describes this spectacular collection in the context of the history of Islamic art, recounting the carpets’ fascinating stories and celebrating their intricate designs and unparalleled craftsmanship. Richly illustrated, including pictures of many carpets never before reproduced in print and even one that may have been lost forever following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, this volume is essential reading for modern admirers of oriental carpets, and a treasure in its own right.