The Islamic world, Room 43

Cloth brings a different scale of making from metal or glazed pottery. In the gallery shared by Rooms 42 and 43, a Central Asian robe belongs to a wider selection that also includes ceramics, scientific instruments and contemporary art. The Albukhary Foundation Gallery spans the seventh century to the present. Its objects come from communities across a broad area between West Africa and Southeast Asia. A robe, a mosque lamp and an astrolabe carry different histories of use, even when their makers drew on some connected traditions. Let the object’s function guide a closer look. A garment has to fit and move with a body. A vessel has a rim, a foot and a surface that might be decorated. Across the two rooms, familiar kinds of things acquire particular forms through materials, skills and local choices.