Islamicate Art, Copy, Forgery?

The Case of the Safavid Revival miḥrāb in the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin

Abstract

When does counterfeit art become inauthentic? Where is the line between forgery and copy? Can copies find a place in ethnological collections? Taking the case study of a Safavid Revival prayer niche (mih.rāb) and accompanying horizontal tiles (t.irāz) in the “Aspects of Islam” exhibition of the Ethnologisches Museum at Humboldt Forum, this article examines the abrupt shift in attitudes towards these objects once they were found to be much younger than previously thought. Placing the prayer niche within the greater context of Safavid Revivalism and Islamicate cultural production, this article challenges European perceptions of forgery, arguing that, for visitors to the exhibition, the young age of the prayer niche is largely irrelevant as it evokes an experiential connection to Islamicate history through its cultural meaning and religious function.