The Khalili Collections are eight distinct art collections assembled by
Nasser D. Khalili over five decades.[2][1] Together, the collections include some 35,000 works of art,[1] and each is considered among the most important in its field.[3]
One hundred catalogues and monographs describing the collections are being published. There have been numerous public exhibitions drawn exclusively from the collections, as well as loans of items to heritage institutions.
The Khalili Collections include one of the world's most comprehensive collections of Islamic art[5][6] and the largest in private hands.[7][8][9] The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art includes 28,000 objects documenting arts from Islamic lands over a period of almost 1400 years. It was described in 1998 as "one of the largest and most representative collections of
Quranic manuscripts in the world"[10] and is the largest private collection.[11][12] Khalili is motivated by a belief that Islamic art is the most beautiful, yet has been underappreciated by the wider world.[4] The collection has been described as presenting art works of interest to Westerners without abstracting them away from the aesthetic standards of Islamic culture.[4] Khalili defines Islamic art as "art produced by Muslim artists for Muslim patrons", and only a minority of the items have an explicitly religious purpose.[4]
In addition to rare and illustrated manuscripts, the collection includes album and miniature paintings,[13] lacquer,[14] ceramics,[15] glass and rock crystal,[16] metalwork,[17] arms and armour,[18] jewellery,[19] carpets and textiles,[20] over 15,000 coins[21] and architectural elements.[22] The ceramic collection, numbering around 2,000 items, has been described as particularly strong in pottery of the
Timurid era and also pottery of pre-Mongol
Bamiyan.[23] The jewellery collection includes more than 600 rings, many purely decorative but some with religious inscriptions or having a secular function, such as
signet rings.[24] Around two hundred objects relate to
medieval Islamic science and medicine, including astronomical instruments for orienting towards Mecca, scales and weights, and supposedly magical items intended for medical use.[25]
This collection was the basis in 2008 for the first comprehensive exhibition of Islamic art to be staged in the Middle East, at the Emirates Palace in
Abu Dhabi.[8] This was also the largest exhibition of Islamic art held anywhere up to that date.[8] Exhibitions drawing exclusively from the collection have been held at
Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, the
Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and the
Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam as well as at many other museums and institutions worldwide.[26]
The Wall Street Journal has said that it is the greatest collection of Islamic Art in existence.[5] According to Edward Gibbs, Chairman of Middle East and India at
Sotheby's, it is the best such collection in private hands.[6]
Saddle fittings and horse trappings, Central Asia or Western frontiers of China, circa 1200
Alongside the
Topkapı Palace museum, the collection is considered the largest and most significant group of objects relating to the cultural history of the
Hajj.[31] It holds objects and archival documents from all over the Islamic world, from the
Umayyad period to the 21st century.[26] It includes over 300 textiles and many other objects such as coins, medals, miniatures, manuscripts and photographs relating to
Mecca and
Medina. In total, the collection contains approximately 5,000 objects.[32] Among them are a
mahmal (AH 1067 (AD 1656–7)) commissioned by the
Ottoman Sultan
Mehmet IV,[33]sitaras (textile coverings) for the door of the
Kaaba,[34] for the mosque of the Prophet in Medina, and for the
Station of Abraham,[34] the earliest known accurate eyewitness account of Mecca[35] and some of the earliest photographs taken of Mecca and the Hajj, by
Mohammed Sadiq Bey.[36]
A complete cover for a Damascus mahmal, Istanbul, 16th century
Curtain for door of the Kaaba, Cairo, 1015
AH (1606 AD)
The collection comprises 48 historically significant
Aramaic documents from
Ancient Bactria, consisting of mainly letters and accounts related to the court of the
satrap of Bactria. Together these letters and accounts make up the oldest known correspondence of the administration of
Bactria and
Sogdiana.[37] The documents, written in Official Aramaic, were likely to originate from the historical city of
Balkh and all are dated within a period of less than 30 years, between 353 BC to 324 BC.[38] The newest of the documents was written during
Alexander the Great’s early reign in the region, using the name ‘Alexandros’ (‘Iksndrs’) by which he later became known.[39]
The collection of Meiji decorative arts is only comparable in terms of quality to the collection of the
Japanese Imperial family.[2] It comprises over 1,600 pieces, including metalwork, enamels, lacquer, textiles and ceramics.[40] The
Meiji period saw a cultural revolution in Japan where traditional tastes were met with international ones. Since the beginning of
Emperor Meiji’s reign in Japan, European and international collectors have sought pieces of Japanese art from this era. Many works in the collections were produced by
Imperial Court artists and were exhibited at the
Great Exhibitions of the late 19th century.[41] These imperial court artists include
Shibata Zeshin,[42]Namikawa Yasuyuki,[43]Makuzu Kozan,[44]Yabu Meizan,[44] Kano Natsuo,[45] Suzuki Chokichi,[46] and Shirayama Shosai.[47]
The collection represents three hundred years of the Japanese textile industry and contains over 450 garments. The garments have been worn to demonstrate gender, age, status and wealth throughout Japan's history. The core of the collection is made up of
kimono from the
Edo (1603–1868),
Meiji (1868–1912),
Taisho (1912–1926) and early
Showa (1926–1989) eras.[48][49]
Kimono for a young woman (
furisode), Japan, 1912-1926
Outer kimono for a woman (uchikake), Japan, 1920-1930
Outer kimono for a young woman (uchikake), Japan, 1840-1870
The collection consists mostly of textile panels, cushion and bed covers from the
Scania region of southern Sweden, dating in the main from a hundred-year-old period of the mid-18th to mid-19th centuries. The majority of the pieces in the collection were made for wedding ceremonies in the region. While they played a part in the ceremonies, they were also a reflection of the artistry and skill of the weaver. Their designs often consist of symbolic illustrations of fertility and long life. The entire collection is made up of 100 pieces.[26] In 2008 it was described as "the only extensive collection of Swedish flatweaves outside the country".[50]
Exhibitions drawing exclusively from the collection have been held at the Swedish Cultural Institute in Paris and Boston University Art Gallery.[26]
One of the largest collections of its kind, the Spanish Metalwork collection pays homage to the
Zuloaga family, which played a major part in the preservation of
damascening in Spain.[51] The collection contains pieces created by
Plácido Zuloaga between 1834 and 1910. Some of the pieces, such as a giant iron
cassone, were originally acquired by the 19th-century English collector,
Alfred Morrison.[52] The entire collection comprises over 100 pieces,[53] 22 of which are signed by Plácido Zuloaga.[52]
At the opening of the Khalili Zuloaga exhibition at the
Victoria and Albert Museum in London, its then director
Alan Borg said it was "a landmark in the study of 19th century Spanish decorative art".[54] Other exhibitions also drawing exclusively from the collection have been held at the
Bilbao Fine Arts Museum and
Alhambra Palace in Granada.[26]
The collection consists of over 1300 pieces and showcases the global significance and evolution of
enamelling, covering a 300-year period.[55] It is the most comprehensive private collection of its kind.[55] The uniqueness of the collection lies in its geographic, artistic and historical range, including pieces from China, Japan, Islamic countries and Europe.[56] Objects include the enamelled chariot belonging to the Indian Maharaja of
Bhavnagar[57] and a painted enamel throne table with the seal mark of the 18th century Chinese
Qianlong emperor.[58] Other objects include
presentation chargers, jewellery, miniatures and ornamental pieces.[55]
At the 2009–10 Enamels of the world exhibition held at the
State Hermitage Museum, its director
Mikhail Piotrovsky said "Unique in its scope, the Collection reveals the remarkable technical achievements of the enamellers and encourages a greater awareness of the range of their activity."[54]
Enamelled chariot belonging to the Indian Maharaja of
Bhavnagar
Painted enamel throne table with the seal mark of the
Qianlong emperor
19th-century Limoges plaque depicting
the crucifixion, the largest known single-piece enamel painting
Panel from a set of eight bearing poems by
Yu Minzhong
Publications
The Khalili Collections are represented in 70 publications, including exhibition catalogues, with work in progress to extend this to 100. The total costs associated with the conservation, research, scholarship and publication of the collections are estimated to be in the tens of millions of
pounds.[59]
Islamic art
Déroche, François (1992). Volume I – The Abbasid Tradition: Qur'ans of the 8th to the 10th centuries AD. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780519.
James, David (1992). Volume II – The Master Scribes: Qur'ans of the 10th to 14th centuries AD. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780526.
James, David (1992). Volume III – After Timur: Qur'ans of the 15th and 16th centuries. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9780197276020.
Bayani, Manijeh; Contadini, Anna; Stanley, Tim (1999). Volume IV, Part I – The Decorated Word: Qur'ans of the 17th to 19th centuries. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9780197276037.
Bayani, Manijeh; Contadini, Anna; Stanley, Tim (2009). Volume IV, Part II – The Decorated Word: Qur'ans of the 17th to 19th centuries. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780540.
Safwat, Nabil F. (1996). Volume V – The Art of the Pen: Calligraphy of the 14th to 20th Centuries. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9780197276044.
Khan, Geoffrey (1993). Volume VI – Bills, Letters and Deeds: Arabic Papyri of the 7th to 11th Centuries. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780564.
Freeman, Deborah (1993). Volume VII – Learning, Piety and Poetry. Manuscripts from the Islamic world. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780847.
Leach, Linda York (1998). Volume VIII – Paintings from India. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9780197276242.
Grube, Ernst J. (1994). Volume IX – Cobalt and Lustre: The first centuries of Islamic pottery. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9780197276075.
Grube, Ernst J. (2007). Volume X – A Rival to China. Later Islamic pottery. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780878.
Spink, Michael. Volume XI – Brasses, Bronze & Silver of the Islamic Lands, Part I and II. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780885.
Maddison, Francis (1997). Volume XII – Science, Tools & Magic: Body and Spirit, Mapping the Universe, Part I and Mundane Bodies, Part II. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9780197276105.
Bayani, Manijeh (1997). Volume XIII – Seals and Talismans. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780779.
Cohen, Steven (31 December 2011). Volume XIV – Textiles, Carpets and Costumes, Part I and II. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780786.
Goldstein, Sidney M. (2005). Volume XV – Glass: From Sasanian antecedents to European imitations. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780502.
Wenzel, Marian (1992). Volume XVI – Ornament and Amulet: Rings of the Islamic Lands. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9780197276143.
Spink, Michael;
Ogden, Jack (2013). Volume XVII – The Art of Adornment: Jewellery of the Islamic lands. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780861.
Carvalho, Pedro Moura (2010). Volume XVIII – Gems and Jewels of Mughal India. Jewelled and enamelled objects from the 16th to 20th centuries. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780724.
Vardanyan, Aram R. (2022). Volume XIX – Dinars and Dirhams. Coins of the Islamic lands. The early period, Part I. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780823.
Vardanyan, Aram R. (2022). Volume XX – Dinars and Dirhams. Coins of the Islamic lands. The later period, Part II. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780830.
Alexander, David (1992). Volume XXI – The Arts of War: Arms and Armour of the 7th to 19th centuries. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780618.
Khalili, Nasser D.; Robinson, B. W.; Stanley, Tim (1996). Volume XXII – Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Part I. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780625.
Khalili, Nasser D.; Robinson, B. W.; Stanley, Tim (1997). Volume XXII – Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Part II. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780632.
Vernoit, Stephen (1997). Volume XXIII – Occidentalism. Islamic Art in the 19th Century. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9780197276204.
Pinder-Wilson, Ralph; Chida-Razvi, Mehreen (28 April 2006). Volume XXIV – Monuments and Memorials. Carvings and tile work from the Islamic world. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780854.
Sims, Eleanor; Bayani, Manijeh; Stanley, Tim (28 February 2006). Volume XXV, Part I – The Tale and the Image. Illustrated manuscripts and album paintings from Iran and Turkey (Part One). The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780809.
Rogers, J. M.; Bayani, Manijeh (31 December 2017). Volume XXV, Part II – The Tale and the Image. Illustrated manuscripts and album paintings from Iran and Turkey (Part Two). The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780816.
Blair, Shelia (1995). Volume XXVII – A Compendium of Chronicles: Rashid al-Din's illustrated history of the world. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780656.
Studies in the Khalili Collection – academic monographs
Soucek, Svat (1996). Volume II – Piri Reis and Turkish Mapmaking after Columbus, The Khalili Portolan Atlas. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780670.
Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2012). Volume III – (Part One) Bactrian Documents from Northern Afghanistan, Legal and Economic Documents. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780922.
Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2007). Volume III – (Part Two) Bactrian Documents from Northern Afghanistan, Letters and Buddhist Texts. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780908.
Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2012). Volume III – (Part Three) Bactrian Documents from Northern Afghanistan, Plates. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780915.
Goodwin, Tony (2005). Volume IV – Arab-Byzantine Coinage. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780755.
Khan, Geoffrey (2007). Volume V – Arabic Documents from Early Islamic Khurasan. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780717.
Chaldecott, Nada (2020). Volume VI – Turcoman Jewellery. The Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780939.
Aramaic documents
Naveh, Joseph; Shaked, Shaul (2012). Aramaic Documents from Ancient Bactria. Khalili Family Trust.
ISBN9781874780748.
Japanese art of the Meiji period
Impey, Oliver; Fairley, Malcolm (1995). Volume I – MEIJI NO TAKARA – Treasures of Imperial Japan; Selected Essays. Kibo Foundation.
ISBN9781874780014.
Impey, Oliver; Fairley, Malcolm (1995). Volume II – MEIJI NO TAKARA – Treasures of Imperial Japan; Metalwork Parts One & Two. Kibo Foundation.
ISBN9781874780021.
Impey, Oliver; Fairley, Malcolm (1995). Volume III – MEIJI NO TAKARA – Treasures of Imperial Japan; Enamel. Kibo Foundation.
ISBN9781874780038.
Impey, Oliver; Fairley, Malcolm; Earle, Joe (1995). Volume IV – MEIJI NO TAKARA – Treasures of Imperial Japan; Lacquer Parts One & Two. Kibo Foundation.
ISBN9781874780045.
Impey, Oliver; Fairley, Malcolm (1995). Volume V, Part I – MEIJI NO TAKARA – Treasures of Imperial Japan; Ceramics Part One: Porcelain. Kibo Foundation.
ISBN9781874780052.
Impey, Oliver; Fairley, Malcolm (1995). Volume V, Part II – MEIJI NO TAKARA – Treasures of Imperial Japan; Ceramics Part Two: Earthenware. Kibo Foundation.
ISBN9781874780069.
Earle, Joe (1995). Volume VI – MEIJI NO TAKARA – Treasures of Imperial Japan; Masterpieces by Shibata Zeshin. Kibo Foundation.
ISBN9781874780083.
Japanese kimono
Jackson, Anna (2015). Kimono: The Japanese Art of Pattern and Fashion. Thames & Hudson.
ISBN9780500518021.
Swedish textile art
Hansen, Viveka; Institutet för Kulturforskning (1996). Swedish Textile Art: Traditional Marriage Weavings from Scania: The Khalili Collection. Nour Foundation.
ISBN9781874780076.
Spanish damascene metalwork
Lavin, James D.; Larrañaga, Ramiro (1997). The Art and Tradition of the Zuloagas: Spanish Damascene from the Khalili Collection. Khalili Family Trust.
ISBN9781874780113.
Enamels of the world
Williams, Haydn (2009). Enamels of the World, 1700-2000: The Khalili Collections. Khalili Family Trust.
ISBN9781874780175.
Exhibitions
The following exhibitions were drawn exclusively from the Khalili Collections.[26]
Islamic art
This collection was the basis in 2008 for the first comprehensive exhibition of Islamic art to be staged in the Middle East, at the Emirates Palace in
Abu Dhabi.[8] This was also the largest exhibition of Islamic art held anywhere up to that date.[8] Exhibitions drawing exclusively from the collection have been held at
Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, the
Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and the
Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam as well as at many other museums and institutions worldwide.[26]
Since 2019, the Khalili Collections have partnered with
Wikimedia UK to share images of art works and improve Wikipedia articles.[65] The collections have also provided images and text for
Google Arts & Culture[66] and
Europeana.[67] For the 2023 video game Assassin's Creed Mirage, the Khalili Collections were one of four partner institutions providing images for the game's educational database. An
astrolabe and a statuette of a camel and rider were among the objects used to illustrate the game's setting of 9th century Baghdad.[68][69]
References
This article incorporates text from a
free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0. Text taken from
The Khalili Collections, Khalili Foundation, .
^
abcdRyan, Louise (2015). Transcending boundaries: The arts of Islam: Treasures from the Nassar D. Khalili collection (Thesis). University of Western Sydney. pp. 82–87.
ProQuest1949737243.
^Irwin, Robert (November 1998). "Review: Calligraphic Significances: Catalogues of the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 25 (2). Taylor & Francis: 355–361.
JSTOR40662688.
^The Abbasid Tradition Qur'ans of the 8th And 10th Centuries Ad. Deroche, Francois. I B Tauris & Co Ltd. 2005.
ISBN9781874780519.
OCLC954219022.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (
link)
^Naveh, Joseph; Shaked, Shaul (2012). Aramaic documents from ancient Bactria (fourth century BCE.) from the Khalili collections. London: Khalili Family Trust. pp. x.
ISBN978-1874780748.
OCLC818222949.
^Naveh, Joseph; Shaked, Shaul (2012). Aramaic documents from ancient Bactria (fourth century BCE.) from the Khalili collections. London: Khalili Family Trust. p. 18.
ISBN978-1874780748.
OCLC818222949.
^Earle, Joe (1999). Splendors of Meiji : treasures of imperial Japan : masterpieces from the Khalili Collection. St. Petersburg, Fla.: Broughton International Inc. p. 10.
ISBN1874780137.
OCLC42476594.
^Jackson, Anna, ed. (2015). Kimono : the art and evolution of Japanese fashion : the Khalili collections. London.
ISBN9780500518021.
OCLC917375803.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
^Borg, Alan, "Preface", in Lavin, James D. (1997). The art and tradition of the Zuloagas : Spanish damascene from the Khalili Collection. Larrañaga, Ramiro., Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Spanish Metalwork., Victoria and Albert Museum., Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. [London?]: Khalili Family Trust in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum.
ISBN1874780102.
OCLC37560664.
^
ab"Comments & Reviews". nasserdkhalili.com. December 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
^Sood, Amit (2021). "Harnessing technology to explore humanity's culture". In Ahmed, Waqas (ed.). UNESCO The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity: Marking the 20th Anniversary. London: Khalili Foundation. p. 106.
ISBN978-1-3999-1149-8.