Hajj Art | The Arts of Pilgrimage | from The Khalili Collections

Hajj & The Art Of Pilgrimage (700-2000)

The Khalili Collections include one of the largest and most important groups of works relating to hajj and the arts associated with it. The collection is the largest in private hands and ranks in importance alongside that of the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul. The works range in date from the Umayyad period to the late-20th century spanning 1400 years of Islamic history and come from all over the Muslim world. They include scientific instruments, coins, manuscripts, paintings, textiles, photographs, prints and postcards, as well as rare printed books and historical documents. They have been collected with the aim of providing a comprehensive overview of the subject, illustrating the various religious and artistic aspects of pilgrimage to the holy cities of Islam and the cosmopolitan nature of hajj. This collection contains over 5000 objects including more then 300 textiles and many other related objects associated with Mecca and Medina.

Mahmal
338 x 171 x 124cm
1876–1909
with the name and tughra of Sultan ‘Abdulhamid II
A Complete Cover for a Damascus Mahmal
355 x 190 x 174cm, as assembled
with the name of the Ottoman sultan Mehmed Khan (Mehmed IV) AH 1067 (AD 1656–7)
Istanbul, Turkey
Statuette of a Camel and Rider
25 x 23.5 x 12cm
8th–9th century
Middle East
Curtain for Door of the Ka‘bah
540 x 275cm
dated 1263 AH (1846–7 AD)
Cairo, Egypt
Panoramic View of Mecca
62.8 x 88cm
circa 1845
Mecca, Saudi Arabia
A Unique Medallion with Views of Mecca and Medina
3.7cm (diameter)
struck around 1845
Turkey or possibly the Hijaz
‘Alexander Visits the Ka‘bah’, Folio from a Copy of Firdawsi’s Shahnamah
37.5 x 24.2cm (folio, unevenly trimmed); 26.7 x 16.1cm (text area, recto); 36.2 (maximum) x 21.4cm (maximum, illustration, verso)
mid-16th century
Shiraz, Iran
Mahmal
400 (approximate height, as assembled) x 130 x 102cm
1867–76
Cairo, Egypt
Talismanic Shirt
87 x 101cm
17th century
Turkey
Curtain for Door of the Ka‘bah
519 x 278cm
dated 1266 AH (1849–50 AD)
Cairo, Egypt

Hajj & The Art Of Pilgrimage (700-2000)

The objects have been fully conserved and are currently being researched and catalogued by the world’s leading experts on the Hajj, for publication in a multi volume series. The Khalili Collection has been a major contributor to the following museums and institutions worldwide: Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam; the State Hermitage, St Petersburg; the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; the Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi; Institut du monde arabe, Paris; Museum of Islamic Art, Doha; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; British Museum, London; Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde, Leiden; Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht; The Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio; Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam.

Hajj Publications – A series of ten volumes www.khalilicollections.org

One volume of this multi-volume publication will include a translation of Jacques Jomier’s seminal work, Le Mahmal et la caravane Égyptienne des pèlerins de la Mecque, as well as some of the mahmal-related material from the Collection. Another volume, comprising a number of essays by leading authorities in the field, will present a comprehensive overview of the various religious, spiritual and artistic aspects of pilgrimage to the holy cities of Islam and the cosmopolitan nature of hajj. Other volumes in the series will present the Collection’s holdings. Four will be devoted to the group of some 300 textiles associated with Mecca and Medina and the Dar al-Kiswah, the workshop in Cairo where many of the pilgrimage-related textiles were woven and embroidered. The rest will be devoted to the cities of Mecca and Medina and representations of the two holy sanctuaries by Muslim and European artists and photographers; to the Hijaz railway; and to subjects such as the life of the Prophet Muhammad; the rituals of hajj, its administration and the upkeep of the two holy sanctuaries.