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Al Thani Collection: four exhibition spaces for 120 art objects

2021-11-17T05:10:02.328Z


IN PARTNERSHIP - Some 120 works of art and jewelry of extraordinary quality and pedigree are brought together in a new 400 m2 space.


Tibetan cavalcade

The Al Thani collection 2019 / Photograph Prudence Cuming Ltd

They dominated the Silk Road, extending their hold as far as Mongolia and Bengal, and threatening the Chinese and Abbasid empires.

But what did these Tibetan horsemen look like around AD 700?

AD?

We learn it in this fine gold leaf, a delicately hammered plate coming from a coffin panel.

In his short-sleeved caftan, ideal for shooting, the archer shoots his arrow from his galloping little horse.

His quiver is suspended on the right side and the sword is on the left for maximum efficiency.

This military class was so successful that it influenced that of the old established empires of Byzantium, Iran and China.

Colossal Quran

The Al Thani Collection 2021 / Photograph Matt Pia

Calligraphed in the Near East, perhaps in Syria, during the Umayyad period or at the beginning of the Abbasid period, this folio comes from a manuscript of colossal dimensions, known as the Tashkent Koran, named after the town where the largest surviving fragment is kept. Because the manuscript has traveled to Central Asia, and this since medieval times. The writing, monumental and majestic, angular and austere, airy to the skin and gracefully stretched is here the humble servant of sura 21 (al-Anbiya), whose verses 88-95 evoke John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary . It also reflects the power and faith of the sponsor: the caliphate and its dynasty. The al-Thani collection also presents other folios from ancient Korans. Two writings on white parchment in golden kufic, Abbasids.Two letters also gilded, but this time on indigo blue parchment, Umayyad or Fatimid. And, finally, the extract from a Quran calligraphed around 1020 by a scribe whose name has come down to us - Ali Ben Ahma - for the caregiver of a Zirid sovereign reigning in Kairouan.

When the Antelope plays the merry cupbearer

The Al Thani collection 2015 / Photograph Matt Pia

Ancient civilizations, from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean, loved to create "rhytons", complex vessels that were used to pour wine and other liquids, often for rituals or feasts.

An astonishing combination of naturalism and stylization, this one, in silver and gold, comes from Central Asia of the Sassanids (c. 400-600 AD).

It takes the form of a male saiga antelope head, a species now endangered but abundant in Antiquity from the Caucasus to Mongolia.

There are only three other similar rhytons in the world: one is kept in a private Japanese museum (that of Miho north of Kyoto) and two others, unearthed in Ukraine, are in the Met in New York and in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Divine bighorn man

The Al Thani collection 2021 / Photograph P

This figurine made of a copper alloy is part of ancient cultures that flourished in the mountains of Central Asia between 3000 and 2000 BC. Its anatomically correct volumes contrast with its curved-point breeches and a hairstyle with gigantic horns. This "bighorn man", otherwise known by two other statuettes that appeared on the market in the 1950s, and today in North American collections, remains largely enigmatic. However, it can be compared to shamanic practices closely associated with the perpetuation of tribal lifestyles. In this part of the world, shamanism had already disappeared in the cities. But it still existed in the highlands. Goat ears, in addition to natural ones,as well as the presence of a pectoral in the shape of a bird of prey reinforce this impression of a characteristic combination of human and animal traits. Do we have here a distant ancestor of the ancient fauna?

These Iranian vases that celebrate the harvest

The Al Thani collection 2021 / Photograph Matt Pia

Cheerful children frolic with a few birds in vines so bountiful that the clusters are almost as large and chubby as they are. This secular scene tells of the joy of living in abundance. It is that of a pair of silver vases made by virtuoso metallurgists from northern Iran around 600-800 AD. J.-C, that is to say at the end or after the Sassanid period. This type of fine tableware was prized even beyond the territory of this empire. We know this from a testimony of the poet of the court of the Baghdadi caliphate Abu Nuwas, who, at that time, wrote: "The wine circulated among us in a golden cup which a Persian decorated with various representations." Abu Nuwas, sometimes ascetic moralist, sometimes panegyrist, also championed aristocratic and libertine life. That of hunting and courtly love,Bacchic and erotic.

Serapis, from Ptolemy to Ferdinand de Medici

The Al Thani collection / Photograph Matt Pia

Pliny the Elder tells in his Natural History that, during Antiquity, the Athenian Bryaxis made emerge from dark stones and various precious materials a colossal effigy of Serapis. This divinity is the synthesis of the Greek god Hades and the Egyptians Osiris and Apis. The sculpture intended for Ptolemy I in Alexandria is now lost. But we find the echo of it in this speckled lapis lazuli that appeared in Rome in 1580, where it was offered to the Grand Duke Ferdinand I of Medici. This beautiful head may have been carved from this marbled material extracted from Afghanistan - and therefore very luxurious - to mimic the effect of the original. Besides his beard and long hair, Serapis is recognizable by his headgear: a cylinder which is a standard measure of cereals. Here, this accessory is decorated with bas-relief stems with lanceolate leaves.

Emerald Crunching Parrot

The Al Thani Collection 2013 / Photograph Prudence Cuming Ltd

Traditionally, at the Mughal court, birds were closely associated with royalty. This symbolic parrot may have been part of a group that surrounded the throne of Hyderabad Palace in the late 18th century or early 19th century. It could also have been designed from the outset to be offered as a sign of alliance or friendship. Therefore, what a gift this object is! In gold with decoration of enamel, diamonds, rubies and emeralds. The eyes are agate cabochons and the beak is a point cut emerald. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2015, the Japanese Miho Museum in 2016, the Grand Palais in Paris and that of the Doges in Venice the following year, the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco in 2018 exhibited this piece of goldsmithery specific to India, sumptuous by the Maharajas,unanimously hailed as a pure wonder.

Source: lefigaro

All life articles on 2021-11-17

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