Master Mahmud, Mahmud The Kurd, Mehmûdê Kurdî

Biography:

Mahmud al-Kurdi, also known as Master Mahmud or Mahmud the Kurd, was a 15th-century Kurdish artist, craftsman and designer of the late medieval era. He is regarded as one of the founders of the artistic style known as Veneto-Saracenic, which combines European shapes with a new style of linear silver inlay displaying an unconventional style of arabesque. His work is believed to have been produced in his workshop in Venice, although some scholars suggest that he may have produced his objects in his home country and exported them to Europe. Only 13 objects, 12 of which carry his full name and one without his nisba (the Kurd), have survived. They are preserved in the British Museum, The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. He usually signed his name on his pieces in Arabic and Latin script as 'mu'allim mahmud al kurdi', which means master Mahmud the Kurd.