This is a list of Museums and Libraries over the world that show some of their items online. If anyone knows of one that is missed, please let me know.
The Victoria and Albert Museum, where there are over 1 million items to search in the Collections. This includes ceramics, statues, textiles (including carpets) but this should help.
The Ashmolean, which has coins, rings, photos of Islamic architecture and The Yousef Jameel Online Centre which has textiles as well as embroideries, ceramics (including tiles) and metalwork.
The British Museum, which has so much to wade through, I am finding it difficult to pin anything down, other than there are some really good looking books in the shop!
The Textile Museum, which covers a huge range of textiles, including carpets and four centuries of Ottoman embroidery.
The current exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History- The Silk Road.
The American Numismatic Society, which has an amazing collections of coins.
The Brooklyn Museum has a very large Islamic art collection here.
The Jewish Museum in New York has many items from all over the world but the collection can be searched for any item.
The Chester Beatty Library in Dublin has an amazing collection of Qurans, philosophical writings and manuscripts online.
There is also the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, which while doesn’t have a zoom function on the art, covers many periods and regions.
This Museum With No Frontiers has a wonderful collection of jewelry, which covers many periods in the Ottoman Empire.
The Topkapi Museum, originally the Palace of the Emperor for centuries, since the collapse of the Empire, has become a museum. There is a lot of things to look through, but no zoom function!
This museum in Kuwait, the Tareq Rajab Museum, has modern clothes but a lot of jewelry. Also metalwork, glassware, manuscripts and calligraphy.
While many Turkish museums have no website (just a lot of reviews) some photos are still posted. This site has photos from the Istanbul Miltary and Maritime Museum. Really nice shots of tents and military gear, including cavalry.
The National Museum of Iran is here, but there are no collections online, just a few photos of loans to other museums.
The Louvre has a large Islamic art collection which is currently closed, to be re-opened in 2012. However, some pieces are able to be viewed online. Including some shrouds, ceramics and carpets.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has a large collection online that is also browse-able for type.
The Freer and Sackler Gallery of Art has a large collection which from biblical times and covers the medieval period. Even goes further east and covers Chinese, Japanese and Korean art.
The Benaki Museum in Greece has quite a bit of Byzantine and Islamic art, but no zoom.
The David Collection is the largest collection of Islamic art in northern Europe. Beautiful stuff & well organised.
The German Museum of Islamic Art has a large collection but unfortunately is unsearchable.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has an amazing collection!
The Khalili Family Trust has an online slide show of their Islamic collection.
Phoenix Ancient Art has ancient and early period art from many regions including Byzantine.
The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has a search-able collection.
The Durham University’s Oriental Museum has a collection of ceramics but it is not online.
The National Museums of Scotland have astrolabes!
The Museu Nacional de Arqueologia‘s collection page is here, with links to Roman, Visigoth and Islamic collections.
The Global Egyptian Museum has quite a few Coptic textiles but only three Islamic period items.
The Musee des Tissus et des Arts decoratifs de Lyon is a textile Museum in Lyon.
The Doris Duke’s Shangri La, opened in Hawaii, contains ceramics, embroideries, enamels, furniture and much more.
The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology in the University of Michigan covers Ancient to Medieval arts from the Mediterranean to the Middle East.
The Beirut National Museum has a few nice things up, but no zoom function.
The Robert Mouawad Private Museum has some nice pictures, but very little information and no zoom.
The Royal Academy of Art’s Turks: Journey of a thousand years 600-1600 Exhibit.
Qantara: Mediterranean Heritage covers where East meets West and the art that happened. It covers not only the art, but the trade, Courts, diplomacy, literature and architecture.
The Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin can be searched, but not good zoom.
The Coptic Museum in Cairo has a small amount to see, but not a great deal.
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem has a lot from many things from Antiquity to modern era. No zoom function but has a nice collection of jewelry.
The Al Sabah Collection is in Kuwait and has a good collection of mixed objects online, but with no zoom function or high resolution pictures.
The Morgan Library and Museum has some wonderful late period Persian & Mughal illuminated manuscripts.
hi …nice site…you can find some rare items in my collection that are not in any museum at all..
they are at youtube search badran106 and link…ex rare mughal glass..arabic calligraphy carving on blue cobalt glass..etc
Libraries and museums: Bayt al Quran in Bahrain has remarkable collection of illuminated Qurans spanning the Islamic era: it is highly recommended. (It has no website.) I would suggest that you consider a listing which includes all museums and collections, not just those with a web presence. People travel. The Museum of Islamic art and the Egyptian National Library should be mentioned as having collections of primary importance. Both have historically been open to the public, although both have been closed during the past turbulent decade. The Royal Museum of Art and History in Bussels has a remarkable collection of Islamic art. Although currently closed, the bookstore has books and prints from the collection. Al-Azhar University has unequalled manuscripts, and arrangements can sometimes be made for groups to view the collection. The Museum of the History of Science in Florence displays numerous astrolabes of Arabic origin used by Galileo. Damascus: the Azem Palace has numerous interesting displays of Islamic decorative art. The Islamic Museum in Kuala Lumpur is excellent. I would hardly dismiss the Coptic Museum in Cairo as ‘a small amount to see’. It has the finest collection of remaining mashrabiya and Islamic-period carved woodwork in the world, as well as textiles and artifacts of daily use from the Islamic period, primarily from the excavations at Fustat. It also has rare, large Fatimid-period artiifiacts. I’m amazed that the British Library and the Quran of Sultan Baybars was omitted from the list; it is online and is spectacular. The spherical astrolabe at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford might be mentioned. The Musee de Moyen Age in Paris has rare Islamic-period artifacts in its rotating collection. There are a number of rare Islamic-era medical and scientific manuscripts in various libraries in France. The Musee Guimet in Paris has an extensive collection of art from Ghadara (Afghanistan). Please note that even if the preceding collections are not online directly, nearly all these collections will yield image results using an image search by keyword. And not to forget the extensive photographic Creswell archives, which are online and are searchable. Good luck!
Thanks for all the recommendations. Unfortunately due to having a young family & budget restrictions, the only way for me to see these Museums & Libraries are virtually. That is why I only listed the virtual ones.
I haven’t updated this page & will do so very soon. Real life has a tendency to interfere!
Thanks again