Looting, Acquiring, Gifting: The Islamic Art Market & Museums (1850-Now) - HOA00109I
- Department: History of Art
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2025-26
Module summary
This module examines the period from when the very idea of āIslamic Artā first emerged through to the present day. The material covered includes the looting of sites to supply the market and museums, the changing nature of the Islamic art market, and the different curatorial approaches taken over time.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2025-26 |
Module aims
The desire for Islamic examples of Islamic material culture, from manuscript paintings and carpets to tiles and ceramic vessels, led to the looting of many sites and the transfer of a vast amount of material from the across the Islamic world into first Europe, and late the USA, in the second half of the nineteenth century. In the early period many of the collectors, dealers and curators were not only friends, but in some cases the same person performing multiple roles, and the first part of the module examines the emergence of the idea of Islamic art, the establishment of trading and collecting networks, as well as the early approaches to publication and display of the material.
Having examined the early phase, and unpacked some of the, at times problematic, terminology, the next phase looks at the changing market. This saw the emphasis move from dealers to auction houses, and the location of the main collections, both public and private, that had been initially in London and Paris, started to shift being focused on the collections and collectors based in the USA.
Some specific sites, individual collectors, and a few major museums will be studied, followed by some remarkable events that occurred in the second half of the twentieth century. The module concludes with a look at the present state of the market, the shift in emphasis again, towards major collections in the Gulf, and how museums and collectors are addressing issues around provenance, looted material. In addition, the problems posed by the large number of fakes and forgeries that are on display and in circulation around the world will be explored. The final session will look to the future, and the possible impact of new legislation on the import and sale of antiquities, including Islamic art.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should have acquired:
- Understanding of the links between dealers, collectors and curators in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
- Understanding of the shifting terminologies, the changing legal framework and the range of ethical issues involved in dealing with and displaying Islamic art over time.
- Knowledge of the range of geographic centres and major markets for, and sources of, Islamic art.
- Knowledge of the range of types of faking and forging that has occurred in the context of the Islamic art market over the last 175 years.
- Understanding of the links between geopolitics and the wider global economy, and the functioning of the Islamic art market.
Module content
Week 1: Welcome
Week 2: Moorish, Saracenic or Persian? The Birth
of the Islamic Art Market and its Terminologies
Week 3: The
Looting of Shrines: Lustre Tiles from Varamin and Natanz in Iran
Week 4: Pope and the Ubiquity of Persian Art: 1931 to 1940
Week
5: Consolidation Week
Week 6: The Armenian Connection: Tehran, Constantinople, Cairo,
Paris, London & New York
Week 7: Fakes & Forgeries: The
Problematic Nature of Islamic Ceramics
Week 8: Three Ages of
Display: Europe, America and the Gulf
Week 9: The Tahmasp
Shahnama: Haughton, Haugh & De Kooning
Week 10: Provenance
and Authenticity: Exploring the Islamic Art Market Today
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100.0 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100.0 |
Module feedback
You will receive feedback on assessed work within the timeframes set out by the University - please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.
The purpose of feedback is to help you to improve your future work. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further, you are warmly encouraged to meet your Tutor and/or Supervisor during their office hours.
Indicative reading
- McClary, Richard P. āCalouste Gulbenkian, his Minaāi Ware, and the Changing Islamic Art Market.ā Muqarnas 37 (2020): 321-39.
- Junod, BenoƮt, Georges Khalil, Stefan Weber and Gerhard Wolf (eds.). Islamic Art and the Museum. Approaches to Art and Archaeology of the Muslim World in the Twenty-First Century. London: Saqi Books, 2012.
- Vernoit, Stephen, ed. Discovering Islamic Art: Scholars, Collectors and Collections, 1850-1950. London: I.B. Tauris, 2000.
- Watson, Oliver. āFakes and Forgeries in Islamic Pottery.ā In The V&A Album 4, edited by Anna Somers Cocks, 38-46. London: V&A Museum, 1985.