The Art of Dining: Food Culture in the Islamic World brings together more than 200 works from the Middle East, Egypt, Central and South Asia, and beyond to explore connections between art and cuisine from ancient times to the present day. Paintings of elaborate feasts, sumptuous vessels for food and drink, and historical cookbooks show how culinary cultures have thrived in the Islamic world for centuries. Highlighting the relationship of these works to preparing, serving, and enjoying food, the exhibition engages multiple senses and invites us to appreciate the pleasures of sharing a meal.
Iran. Ewer with Rooster Head, ca.1200. Under-glaze slip-painted fritware. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from Founders Junior Council, Henry Ford II Fund, et al., 1989.34.
India. Saltcellar inscribed with Poem about Salt, between 1664 and 1665. Copper and tin. Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase, 30.432.
Turkey. Dish, late 15th–early 16th century. Underglaze-painted fritware. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, 2006.58.
Iran. A Banquet Scene with Hormuz: Folio from a Dispersed Manuscript of the Shahnama of Firdawsi, ca. 1485–95. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, Gift of Joan Palevsky, M.73.5.413
© Museum Associates / LACMA
Muhammad ‘Ali, Iran. An Old and a Young Man and a Woman Having a Picnic: Folio from a Dispersed Manuscript of the Diwan of Hafiz, ca. mid-17th century. Washes of color on paper. The David Collection, Copenhagen, 155/2006
India. Bowl with Handles, ca. 1640–50, Dark green nephrite jade. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase, M.76.2.2
© Museum Associates / LACMA
Spain, Deep Dish (Brasero) with Heraldic Device, ca. 1430–60. Earthenware, underglaze-painted. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Cloisters Collection, 1956, 56.171.152
India. Babur Entertained to a Meal at the South College (1506), Folio in a Manuscript of the Baburnama (Memoirs of Babur), ca. 1590–93. Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper. The British Library, London, Or 3714, fol. 257r.