Sufi: Life and Art at The British Museum

 

Begging Bowl | Kashkul
Qajar dynasty
1841-1842
Iran
Metal, coco de mer
OA+.2610
© The Trustees of the British Museum

 
 

Sufi

Life & Art

October 27, 2025 – July 26, 2026

 

The word Sufi often conjures up images of Turkish whirling dervishes, turning gracefully round themselves in a mystical ceremony. But outside the world of Islamic mysticism, not much is known of the beliefs and practices in which such ceremonies are rooted, or about the communities that embrace them.

This display will explore Sufi life and art through a selection of objects that represent Sufi communities in the Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, and northern India. This mystical movement, which first appeared in the Islamic world during the eighth century AD, has been defined as a pathway to a personal experience with God.

Among the British Museum objects on display will be Islamic artefacts imbued with Sufi connotations. Some, such as alms bowls, are linked overtly to dervishes, while others have a more subtle connection, such as calligraphic works, miniature paintings and wall tiles. Sufis come from all walks of life, crossing the boundaries of class, ethnicity and regionality. The display will explore such themes as mystical love, poverty and asceticism, as well as Sufi influence upon the wider societies they belong to.

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Exhibition Highlights

 

Footed bowl, made of blue and white glazed pottery
Ottoman dynasty
1510
Iznik, Turkey
Bequeathed by Miss Edith Godman in 1983
Previously owned by Frederick Du Cane Godman
G.2
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Selection of five miniatures depicting master and students; single-page paintings mounted on detached album folios.
Persian
17th century
Iran
Paper
Acquired in 1977
1977,0228,0.10
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Selection of five miniatures depicting master and students; single-page paintings mounted on detached album folios.
Persian
17th century
Iran
Paper
Acquired in 1977
1977,0228,0.10
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Profiled image of dervish blowing a horn and carrying a begging bowl (tradition of Naqshbandi mendicants of the 17th century).
Safavid dynasty
1626
Iran
Paper
Purchased from Prof R A Dara in 1930
1930,0607,0.15
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Album leaf. Devotion. Ibráhím Adham with ministering angels.
1800
Mughal dynasty
India
Paper
Transferred from the British Library
Previously owned by Sir Elijah Impey in 1920
1920,0917,0.183
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Courtier visiting a sage in a cave
Safavid dynasty
1560-1570
Qazvin, Iran
Paper, gold
Field collected by Charles Ricketts
Bequeathed by Charles Hazelwood Shannon in 1937
1937,0710,0.324
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Portraits of Islamic saints and devotees with Persian inscriptions.
Mughal dynasty
India
1796
Field collected by Sultan Tipu
Paper
Acquired in 1936
1936,0411,0.31.1-96
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Two folios from a 'Dala il al-Khayrat', a compendium of prayers upon Prophet Muhammad and organized it into seven sections for daily recitation.
18th century
Morocco
Paper
Acquired in 1992
1992,1216,0.1.a-b
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Lidded jug | Mashraba
Timurid dynasty
1480-1500
Herat, Afghanistan
Brass, gold, silver
Bequeathed by John Henderson, FSA in 1878
1878,1230.731
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Celestial globe with stand and ring
Timurid dynasty
1430-1431
Iran
Brass, silver inlays
Purchased from Solon Sawas in 1896
1896,0323.1
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Footed bowl, made of blue and white glazed pottery
Ottoman dynasty
1510
Iznik, Turkey
Bequeathed by Miss Edith Godman in 1983
Previously owned by Frederick Du Cane Godman
G.2
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Selection of five miniatures depicting master and students; single-page paintings mounted on detached album folios.
Persian
17th century
Iran
Paper
Acquired in 1977
1977,0228,0.10
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Selection of five miniatures depicting master and students; single-page paintings mounted on detached album folios.
Persian
17th century
Iran
Paper
Acquired in 1977
1977,0228,0.10
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Tile with mirror inscriptions, some in part of an 8-pointed star
Ottoman dynasty
1700
Iznik, Turkey
Bequeathed by Miss Edith Godman in 1983
Previously owned by Frederick Du Cane Godman
G.187
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Painting of Yusuf before Zulaykha, her maids cutting their fingers in wonder
Safavid dynasty
1560-1570
Iran
Paper
Purchased from Luzac & Co. in 1914
1914,0407,0.7
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Flute | Nai
1900-1927
Shantur, Egypt
Bamboo
Field collected by Winifred Blackman
Donated by the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine in 1981
Af1981,14.78
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Retrospective portrait of Akbar seated with Shaykh Salim Chishti (1478–1572)
Mughal Dynasty
18th century
Paper, gold
Purchased from W T Spencer in 1921
1921,0111,0.2
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Ana al-Haqq (I am the truth)
Calligraphic silkscreen on paper in coloured ink with text in square kufic script.
Made by Kamal Boullata in 1983
Funded by Brooke Sewell Permanent Fund in 1997
1997,0716,0.2
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Turkish Monks Penitential Ceremony Print
1800-1868
Paper
Donated by Sir Aylmer Gould Hunter-Weston in 1904
1904,0929.60
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Celestial globe
Timurid dynasty
1430-1431
Iran
Brass, silver inlays
Purchased from Solon Sawas in 1896
1896,0323.1
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Celestial globe with stand and ring
Timurid dynasty
1430-1431
Iran
Brass, silver inlays
Purchased from Solon Sawas in 1896
1896,0323.1
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Celestial globe with stand and ring
Timurid dynasty
1430-1431
Iran
Brass, silver inlays
Purchased from Solon Sawas in 1896
1896,0323.1
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Engraved bowl with bird head terminals and scrolls
Safavid dynasty
17th century-18th century
Iran
Bronze
Purchased from Jacques d’Allemagne in 1956
Funded by P T Brooke Sewell, Esq
Previously owned by Henri-Rene d’Allemagne
1956,0726.17
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Begging Bowl | Kashkul
Qajar dynasty
1841-1842
Iran
Metal, coco de mer
OA+.2610
© The Trustees of the British Museum

 

A ceremony inside of a Sufi lodge of the Mawlawi (Mevlevi) Sufi Order, with a group of men wherling in a circle in the centre of the space, three men playing flutes from the balcony to the left, while others observe the ceremony. Print made by Charles Louis Lingée in 1787.
Paper
Purchased from Colnaghi in 1871
1871,1209.3030
© The Trustees of the British Museum

A ceremony inside of a Sufi lodge, with a group of men holding hands in a large circle, a smaller circle of men inside, and one more inside that; two men standing on the right, playing small drums; a group of men on the balcony to the left observing.
Print made by Marin Fessard in 1787
Paper
Purchased from Colnaghi in 1871
1871,1209.3034
© The Trustees of the British Museum

A Sufi ceremony in a Rifa'iyya Sufi lodge with men standing loosely in a half-circle looking at a group putting long hooks inside their mouths, one man fainted and held by another on the right.
Print made by Anonymous in 1787.
Purchased from Colnaghi in 1871.
1871,1209.3032
© The Trustees of the British Museum

 
 
News 16Editorial TeamArt of the Ancestors, Steven G. Alpert, Asian Art, Island Southeast Asian Art, Oceanic Art, Asiatica, Ethnographica, Ethnographic Art, Art Collection, Fine Art, Primitive Art, Indonesian Art, Tribal Art, Eyes of the Ancestors, Dr. Reimar Schefold