Amanda Phillips (DPhil, Oxon) is Associate Professor of Art History, specialising in the art and material culture of the Islamic World. She researches and writes on the Ottoman Empire and its craft traditions, as well on the histories of consumption and technology. She recently spent a year in Turkey as a Fulbright Senior Researcher, based at Koç University's Department of Archaeology and History of Art. In the Unıversity of Virginia's Department of Art, Amanda teaches at both graduate and undergraduate levels -- her survey, Arts of the Islamic World is offered every spring on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She is currently Director of Graduate Studies in Art and Architectural History.
Featured Object. An enchanted forest...this piece of fabric was probably part of a garment, maybe a tunic. Several pieces of it are in collections in North American museums -- this one is at the Metropolitan in New York. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has a piece that was possibly part of the same article of clothing. The piece in New York is partially stained, which may indicate that it was found in one of the medieval garbage dumps of Egypt. It was probably picked up by a person rummaging through the heaps, sold on, and was eventually purchased by well known dealer Dikran Kelekian (d. 1951). Scholars attribute it to Syria, c. 1200s. Exotic birds, griffins, and fox-like creatures are suspended in an overall pattern of stems and leaves. Parallels with metalwork are found in both the motifs and format, as well as the palette--only two colours, similar to inlay or incised decoration. Fantastic beasts and swirling vines would go on to inspire Italian designers working in Lucca and Venice.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 47.15