Exhibition Guide

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Container for a Qu’ran

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    An Object of Comfort

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Container for a Qu’ran, rear view. One inscription reads, “It is Allah Who sustains the heavens and the earth,” while the other repeats the first words of the Koran: “In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.”

Art Object Info

This shining case is a metaphor for the light of God’s word as told by the Qu’ran held inside. Interlocking circles continue this meditation on the connection between the celestial and the terrestrial. One inscription reads, “It is Allah Who sustains the heavens and the earth,” while the other repeats the first words of the Qu’ran: “In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.” Tuareg traders, who connected Arab trans-Saharan caravans with the sub-Saharan African market, were converted to Islam by the religious scholar Abd al-Karim al- Maghili at the turn of the 16th century.

 

Medium:
Copper alloy, nickel, and lead
Size:
H: 11.8"
W: 16"
D: 3.5"
Date:
Early 20th Century
Anonymous Gift BMA 2002.142

Art Object Info

This shining case is a metaphor for the light of God’s word as told by the Qu’ran held inside. Interlocking circles continue this meditation on the connection between the celestial and the terrestrial. One inscription reads, “It is Allah Who sustains the heavens and the earth,” while the other repeats the first words of the Qu’ran: “In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.” Tuareg traders, who connected Arab trans-Saharan caravans with the sub-Saharan African market, were converted to Islam by the religious scholar Abd al-Karim al- Maghili at the turn of the 16th century.

 

Artist:
Unidentified Tuareg Artist
Medium:
Copper alloy, nickel, and lead
Size:
H: 3.5"
W: 16"
D: 3.5"
Date:
Early 20th Century
Anonymous Gift BMA 2002.142