THE DIVERSE ROOMS AT THE MUSEUM
Miniature Hall:
The Miniature Hall of the museum is the most impressive of all sections with exhibit arrangement having been maintained for three quarters of a century. The hall represents a large room of a well-to-do family from a time when Western influences had started penetrating the established ways of living in Lahore. The hall houses a large collection of miniature paintings, 160 in total, hung against all four walls. The medium of the paintings is organic pigments on either ivory or paper and belong to various schools of miniature-Mughal, Kangra, Rajpoot, Pahari, Irani.
Hall of Carpets:
The Hall of Carpets is originally the sitting room (gol karma) of Fakir Khana museum. It houses an impressive collection of carpets, even down from the time of Emperor Shah Jahan. There are 18 carpets, shawls and other embroideries. The museum has 6 Irani carpets, 8 Shirazi and 1 Irani kilim of floral patterns. Some of these are exhibited in this hall while others can be seen In the hall of miniature paintings and the room of calligraphy.
Room of Calligraphy:
The room of Calligraphy has some of the most beautiful masterpieces of the high art, an elevated form of art considered in Islam. The earliest form of Islamic calligraphy was done in Kufic script and the earliest work of calligraphy in the Fakir Khana museum is a Quran handwritten in Kufic script.
Buddhist Art of Gandhara:
A section of the museum is dedicated to the Buddhist Art of Gandhara civilization. Reaching its peak between the 1st and 5th centuries, this ancient civilization spread over an area that is today Northwest Pakistan and part of Afghanistan. The sculptures of Gandhara bear strong influence of Greek and Indian art.
Textiles Collection:
The museum also has a beautiful textile collection which almost entirely belongs to the 19th century Sikh period. Highlights of the textiles include a fine Kashmiri shawl believed to have been owned by maharani Jinda, the favorite wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
Porcelain Collection:
The Fakir Khana museum also has a collection of exquisite porcelain, comprising old Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, French, German, English and Dutch crockery. The most ancient piece of the collection is the Japanese crackelein of the 18th century.
CATALOGING THE MUNDANE
Art and crafts tell us the tales how people before us lived. What we know today is because of what was left then..
Any civilization mundane objects tell us different stories of their lifestyle and evolution of human beings in a particular culture....
These objects of life become inspiration of re-invention throughout the history according to our needs.
These objects represents how they took their place in the socio-cultural setting of any civilization and added “cultural magic” to the people who utilized them therefore defining their history and redefining the present and future.
