The Metropolitan Museum Of Art in New York
heeft een grote tentoonstelling op dit moment over India.
Meer precies over de Deccan.

Wikipedia:
De naam “Dekan” of “Deccan” komt van het Sanskriet woord “dakshina”, wat “het zuiden” betekent.

Het Hoogland van Dekan of Deccan is grofweg het midden en zuiden
van India. Lange tijd hebben de lokale sultans daar de macht gehad.
Hun kunst en cultuur werd beinvloed door Perzie en in de
tentoonstelling in New York wordt daar uitgebreid aandacht aan besteed.
Als je in de gelegenheid bent: GAAN!.

Onlangs kocht ik In de US de prachtige catalogus van de
tentoonstelling. Een indrukwekkend boek.

Sultans of Deccan India, 1500 – 1700: Opulence and fantasy. Vaste gasten van mijn weblog staan niet verbaasd over de keuze van dit boek. De laatste twee vakanties in India waren in dit gebied.

Zo is hier de Gol Gumbaz te zien.

Dit is mijn foto uit 2012 van dit grafmonument.

Een van de deuren van de Bibi-Ka-Maqbara in Aurangabad.

Detail.

En dit is mijn foto uit 2012 van misschien wel dezelfde deur.

Naar aanleiding van deze tentoonstelling
las ik vorige week een blog over gemarmerd papier en het gebruik
ervan in de Indiase miniaturen.
De voorbeelden die werden gegeven had ik nog nooit gezien.

Eerst de tekst:

http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/museum-departments/curatorial-departments/islamic-art/ruminations/2015/marbled-paper

Marbleized paper, known as ebru, which translates to “the art of clouds” (“cloud” is ebr in Turkish and abri in Persian), has a long tradition in Turkey and came to be much favored for calligraphic work. The marbling used for the outer borders throughout this album is stunning in its variety of shapes and magnificent display of both organic and inorganic colors and bold rhythms. The patterns are the result of color floated on the marble bath (a viscous solution of carrageenan moss/algae) and then carefully transferred to the surface of the paper. Delicious and intense pink, orange, yellow, blue, and orange hues swirl and flow into and around each other to create blossoming flowers, traditional combed peacocks and getgels (a series of combed parallel lines bisected by another series of combed parallel lines that run in the opposite direction), and sprinkled and speckled stone.

What is it about marbling that has such a universal appeal? Perhaps part of its mystique is related to the indispensable and elemental role that water plays in the process of its formation, and the rhythmic beauty of the fluid dynamics in which the artist both participates and yields to in its random outcome.

Ebru masters enjoyed celebrated stature within the hierarchical framework of artists and craftsmen. For many centuries, artists in Persia, particularly those involved in the production of books, had enjoyed official patronage. This tradition also became established in Turkey and India, where artists and craftspeople set themselves up under the authority of sultans who provided a brilliant court and active encouragement; calligraphers, illuminators, painters, bookbinders, and gilders all contributed to the decoration of books. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the cities of Herat (Afghanistan) and Shiraz (Persia) exported manuscripts to Turkey and even India, where their painted albums enjoyed great popularity in the seventeenth century.

Whether simple or sophisticated, marbled paper—named as such because of its imitation of the vein sequence found in colored marble—has always been the product of great imagination and skill on the part of the marbler. Marbled papers find their way into many facets of the book arts—from the paper onto which graceful calligraphy will be penned and incorporated into a decorative border or inlay, to endpapers, end leaves, and paste-downs in bound manuscripts.

Handmade marbled papers are made one sheet at a time in the following manner: a bath of gum (usually tragacanth) or algae (carrageenan moss) is prepared, the colors for the pattern are sprinkled and dropped upon this mucilaginous dense surface, and patterns are made by combing or some other means of regularizing the design. The paper is then let down carefully into the marbling bath and the design is transferred.

In the Deccan, a particularly original form of marbling developed: pictures composed of mixed media that incorporated marbling and ink drawing, highly skilled, technical masterpieces utilizing positive and negative stencil methods that left the viewer amazed by their precision and inventiveness. A very rare technique with few examples known to exist today, these artistic curiosities continue to fascinate and bedazzle viewers. Take advantage of the rare opportunity to feast your eyes on a number of marbled images in the gorgeous exhibition

En een aantal voorbeelden van de tentoonstelling met gemarmerd papier
toon ik hier. Ik heb dergelijke werken nog nooit in het echt gezien.

Ascetic riding a nag. Illustrated album leaf. Mid 17th century. India, Deccan, Bijapur. Het gemarmerd papier als achtergrond.

Dervish seated in contemplation. Folio of illustrated manuscript. Mid 17th century. India, Bijapur. Het gemarmerd papier als kleding.

Elephant trampling a horse. Illustrated album leaf. Mid 17th century. India, Deccan, Bijapur.

Emaciated horse and rider. Illustrated single work. Circa 1625. India, Deccan, Bijapur.

Misschien wel het best geslaagde voorbeeld: Lady carrying a peacock. Illustrated album leaf, late 17th – early 18th century. India, Deccan, probably Hyderabad. Zowel de rand van het blad als de kleding van de centrale figuur in hetzelfde gemarmerde papier.