This parapet well, from the collection of Lazaro Galdiano, is an example of the influence the Alhambra Palace had on art and collecting. Pieces from the Alhambra were among the most valued by European collectors, such as this marble well that probably came from the palace.

Collectors of Islamic art, including the Spanish collector Lázaro Galdiano, were interested in buying not only architectural fragments or ceramics but also jewellery, such as this piece. Its Nasrid-period provenance probably increased its value, because of its potential relationship to the Alhambra Palace.

The Spanish artist Mariano Fortuny (1871–1949) had a good knowledge of Islamic textiles and formed a collection, which inspired him. He designed many fabrics that followed the rich decorative schemes of Islamic designs.

Bought by the Museum of Applied Arts in Istanbul in 1891. In the same year, a major exhibition in Vienna emphasised the growing European interest in carpets, which was reflected in a number of contemporaneous publications on the subject.

One of the first exhibitions of Islamic art took place in Algeria in 1867. The ceiling fragment shown here was included among the selection of artworks.

A silver portable inkwell, decorated with Oriental motifs, consisting of an ink container and a compartment for keeping quills. It belonged to Romanian politician and writer Ion Ghica, who was Bey of Samos (1854–59).

The work of Louis Adrien Berbrugger (1801–69) is the first comprehensive study of monuments in Algeria. Published in 1843 and dedicated to King Louis Philippe I of France, in addition to monuments, it illustrates maps and plans as well as inscriptions and Algerian coins.

Félix Marie Charles Texier was a French historian, architect and archaeologist who published a number of significant works about his travels throughout Asia Minor and the Middle East. Many Westerners were travelling to the East at the time, not only as tourists, but also to research its religious, artistic, architectural and archaeological history.

The architect and designer Owen Jones’ influential designs brought together different cultural styles. He illustrated objects from international tours and exhibitions and, at the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in London in 1851 for example, he re-created the Lion Fountain of the Alhambra Palace and decorated the building dedicated to this masterwork of art.

This is one of the 389 photographs taken by the Tunisian Antiquities Service. The photos were initially exhibited at the European Historic Exhibition held in Madrid in 1892, and when the exhibition ended the photographs were donated to the National Museum of Archaeology in Madrid.

The presence of Europeans in the Middle East prompted the study of Islamic architecture as sites were recorded in paintings, or later, with the use of photography.

This astrolabe, which was made by ‘Abd al-Karim al-Misri in 1236, was acquired by the British Museum in 1855.

In his study into the origins of blazons and fleurs-de-lys, the designer Adalbert de Beaumont examines the period of the Mamluks and recognises the contribution blazons, seen in the iconography on works of art, made to heraldry.

Europeans in the Middle East prompted the study of Islamic architecture. Visitors recorded sites in paintings or, later, with the use of photography.

These jugs were bought by the Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst at the World Trade Fair in Vienna in 1873.

Fragments of the minbar from the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo were exhibited at the World Trade Exhibition in Paris in 1867. Exhibition of objects like this promoted European museums’ interest in acquiring similar works.

An Arabian leather binding bought for the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna.

A Mamluk mosque lamp bought in 1869 by the British Museum in London.