Decorated Paper in the Early-Modern Islamicate World: Aesthetics, Techniques and Meaning in Global Contexts

Introduction

Moving away from Eurocentric art historical to truly global and interdisciplinary approaches, this project aims at re-evaluating the early-modern history of the Islamicate arts of the book from a so-far not considered perspective: the border and background decoration of manuscripts.

Background Decoration of Manuscripts

The manifold forms of paper decoration and their techniques have hitherto not been systematically analysed by historians of Islamic Art, who instead have focused on manuscripts’ figurative illustrations. Labelling decorative devices as subordinate to text and images has proven limiting to a full comprehension of art and to the exploration of global artistic contacts between different cultures within the Islamicate world and between East Asia and the Middle East.

Interdisciplinary Approach

Drawing upon previous research initiatives by the PI, this project will bring together scholars from humanities and natural sciences in an interdisciplinary approach to aesthetics, materials, techniques, and meaning of decorated paper produced and used in early-modern China, Central Asia, Iran, India, and the Ottoman Empire.

Research Focus

Favouring objects in the historical centres over well-known materials from collections in the West, this research is designed to further collections in the Middle East and Asia and to bring their understudied artworks under broader scholarly attention through publications and an interactive database.

Potential Impact

The project has the potential to significantly re-shape the existing construct of Art History by:

1. Shifting the attention to high-standard yet systematically ignored artistic production of decorated papers.
2. Meticulously investigating local traditions through innovative combinations of material analyses, the study of written sources, and hardly applied comparisons with contemporary paper-decoration practices.
3. Focusing on networks of trade, diplomacy, and artistic exchange in Asia and the Middle East that paved the way for greatly varied and technically advanced forms of augmented paper decoration.