Sheila S. Blair is the Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art and the Boston College and Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair of Islamic Art, Virginia Commonwealth University.

• Preface; Introduction; I. The Art of Writing: A Bowl from Samarqand; 1. Provenance; 2. The Ceramic Setting; 3. Inscriptions; 4. Script; 5. Clientele; 6. Wider Horizons; 7. Afterlife; II. Perfuming the Air: A Rosewater Sprinkler from Herat; 1. Provenance; 2. The Geographical and Historical Setting; 3. Metalwares from Herat; 4. Patronage; 5. Function; 6. Decoration; 7. Afterlife; III. Monumentality under the Mongols: the Tomb of Uljaytu at Sultaniyya; 1. Construction and Redecoration; 2. Reasons for Redecoration; 3. The Pious Foundation; 4. The Architectural Setting; 5. The Tomb as Inspiration for later Mongol Rulers; 6. The Tomb as inspiration for the Ilkhanids’ Rivals; 7. Afterlife; IV. A Romantic Interlude: The Wedding Celebration from a Manuscript with Three Poems by Khwaju Kirmani; 1. The Text and its Calligrapher; 2. The Illustrated Folios; 3. Adding the Paintings; 4. The Royal Setting; 5. The Role of Women; 6. Afterlife; V. Proclaiming Sovereignty: The Ardabil Carpets; 1. Provenance; 2. The Inscription; 3. Gifts to shrines; 4. Why Ardabil in the 1540s?; 5. The Repurposed Jannat Saray; 6. Afterlife at the Shrine; 7. Afterlife in the West; VI. Conclusion; Bibliography.

Beautifully produced and extensively illustrated.