page_title: Islamic art
section_title: Other applied arts
hierarchical_section_title: Islamic art / Other applied arts
caption_attribution_description: English: Dagger with horse head pommel, detail. India, Mughal dynasty, 17th century. Blade: Damascus steel inlaid with gold; hilt: jade with carved decoration, inlaid with gold and semi-precious stones. Français&#160;: Poignard à tête de cheval, détail du manche. Inde, dynastie moghole, XVIIe siècle. Lame en acier à décor doré&#160;; manche en jade incrusté d'or kundan, de rubis et d'émeraudes.
context_page_description: Islamic art encompasses the visual arts produced in the Islamic world. Islamic art is difficult to characterize because it covers a wide range of lands, periods, and genres, including Islamic architecture, Islamic calligraphy, Islamic miniature, Islamic glass, Islamic pottery, and textile arts such as carpets and embroidery.
  It comprises both religious and secular art forms. Religious art is represented by calligraphy, architecture and furnishings of religious buildings, such as mosque fittings, woodwork and carpets. Secular art also flourished in the Islamic world, although some of its elements were criticized by religious scholars.
  Early development of Islamic art was influenced by Roman art, Early Christian art, and Sassanian art, with later influences from Central Asian nomadic traditions. Chinese art had a formative influence on Islamic painting, pottery, and textiles. Though the concept of "Islamic art" has been criticised by some modern art historians as an illusory Eurocentric construct,
context_section_description: High levels of achievement were reached in other materials, including hardstone carvings and jewellery, ivory carving, textiles and leatherwork. During the Middle Ages, Islamic work in these fields was highly valued in other parts of the world and often traded outside the Islamic zone.  Apart from miniature painting and calligraphy, other arts of the book are decorative illumination, the only type found in Qur'an manuscripts, and Islamic book covers, which are often highly decorative in luxury manuscripts, using either the geometric motifs found in illumination, or sometimes figurative images probably drawn for the craftsmen by miniature painters.  Materials include coloured, tooled and stamped leather and lacquer over paint.
caption: Mughal dagger with hilt in jade, gold, rubies and emeralds.  Blade of damascened steel inlaid with gold.
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