.  
 

Doorways to Islamic Art


by Sylvia Godlas


Bibliography and Resources



Many of the books listed here are affordable and useful for student projects. Many are available in paperback. Some, however, are large, expensive hardbacks. These works can often be found at the public or university library.

If your budget will afford one costly reference book, be sure to get Paccard's *Traditional Islamic Craft in Moroccan Architecture.* For ceramic tile and tessellation design, refer to Vol. 1. For instructions in carved or chiseled plaster or for projects in wood, refer to Vol. 2. (This set of books is outstanding in content and rich in photos of techniques that demystify processes unfamiliar to the Western artist.)

Acedo, Aurelio Cid. The Alhambra: in detail. Translated by P. S. Grant. Granada: Ediciones Capitel, n.d., (after 1988).

Ardalan, Nader, and Laleh Bakhtiar. The Sense of Unity: The Sufi Tradition in Persian Architecture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973.

Atasoy, Nurhan, and Julian Raby. Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey. London: Alexandria Press, 1989.

Atil, Esin, ed. Turkish Art. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press and New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1980.

Ayoub, Abderrahman, Jamila Binous, Abderrazak Gragueb, Ali Mtimet, Hedi Slim. Umm El Madayan: An Islamic City Through the Ages. Translated by Kathleen Leverich. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.

Boukobza, Andre. La Poterie Marocaine. Paris: Jean-Pierre Taillandier, Sochepress, 1987 (in French only, but where geometric design on pottery is concerned, the pictures say it all.)

Brend, Barbara. Islamic Art. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991.

Burckhardt, Titus. Sacred Art in East and West: Its Principles and Methods. Translated by Lord Northbourne. Bedfont, Middlesex, UK: Perennial Books Ltd., 1967.

______. Art of Islam: Language and Meaning. Translated by J. Peter Hobson. Westerham, Kent, UK: World of Islam Festival Trust, 1976.

______. Fez: City of Islam. Translated by William Stoddart. Cambridge, UK: The Islamic Texts Society, 1992.

Critchlow, Keith. Islamic Patterns: An Analytical and Cosmological Approach. New York: Schocken Books, 1976.

Dodds, Jerrilynn D. ed. Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992.

Giorgini, Frank. Handmade Tiles. 144 pp. See Lark Books Catalogue #253. Useful for a project in ceramic tiles and handmade tiles. It gives detailed step by step procedures for producing Islamic type tessellations.

Gluck, Jay, and Sumi Hiramoto Gluck. A Survey of Persian Handicraft. Tehran: Bank Melli Iran, 1977.

Hedgecoe, John, and Salma Samar Damluji. Zillij: The Art of Moroccan Ceramics. Reading, UK: Garnet Publishing Limited, 1992.

Khatibi, Abdelkebir, and Mohammed Sijelmassi. The Splendour of Islamic Calligraphy. Translated by James Hughes. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1977.

Lings, Martin. The Quranic Art of Calligraphy and Illumination. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 1976.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Islamic Art and Spirituality. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1987.

Necipoglu, Gulru. The Topkapi Scroll: Geometry and Ornament in Islamic Architecture. Santa Monica: The Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, 1995.

Paccard, Andre. Traditional Islamic Craft in Moroccan Architecture. 2 vols. Saint-Jorioz, France: Editions Atelier 74, 1980.

Papadopoulo, Alexandre. Islam and Muslim Art. Translated by Robert Erich Wolf. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1979.

Petsopoulos, Yanni, ed. Tulips, Arabesques and Turbans: Decorative Arts from the Ottoman Empire. New York: Abbeville Press, 1982.

Pope, Arthur Upham, and Phyllis Ackerman. A Survey of Persian Art. Vol. 4, Ceramic Arts, Calligraphy and Epigraphy, and vol. 9, Pottery and Faience. Tehran: Soroush Press, n.d.

Safadi, Yasin Hamid. Islamic Calligraphy. Boulder: Shambhala, 1979. El-Sa'id, Issam, and Ayse Parman. Geometric Concepts in Islamic Art. Palo Alto, CA: Dale Seymour Publications, 1976.

Wilkinson, Charles K. Nishapur: Pottery of the Early Islamic Period. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.d.

Dover Publications:

Akar, Azade. Authentic Turkish Designs. New York: Dover Publications, 1992.

______. Treasury of Turkish Designs: 670 Motifs from Iznik Pottery. New York: Dover Publications, 1988. Bourgoin, J. Arabic Allover Patterns. New York: Dover Publications, 1976 and 1985.

______. Arabic Geometrical Pattern and Design: 200 plates. New York: Dover Publications, 1973.

D'Avennes, Prisse, ed. Arabic Art in Color. New York: Dover Publications, 1978.

Dowlatshahi, Ali. Persian Designs and Motifs: for Artists and Craftsmen. New York: Dover Publications, 1979.

Simalkoff, N. Islamic Designs: in Color. New York: Dover Publications, 1993. Wilson, Eva. Islamic Designs: for Artists and Craftspeople. New York: Dover Publications, 1988.

See also:

Shabbas, Audrey. AWAIR Catalogue. Berkeley: AWAIR, annually updated.

Books from the AWAIR Catalogue:

Musˇe 'Art et d'histoire. Islamic Calligraphy/Calligraphie Islamique. Geneva: Treasures of Islam, 1988. Bilingual.

Seymour, Dale, and Jill Barton. Introduction to Tessellations. Palo Alto, CA: Dale Seymour Publications, 1989.

Shabbas, Audrey. A Medieval Banquet in the Alhambra Palace. Berkeley: AWAIR, 1994. 7th through 12th, social studies/across the curriculum.

Shabbas, Audrey, and Ayad Al-Qazzaz, eds. The Arab World Notebook: For the Secondary School Level. Berkeley: Najda, 1990. Loose-leaf binder of some 460 pages of duplicate masters.
 

Return Home