L. A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art
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The L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art was established by the late Mrs. Vera Bryce Salomons in 1974 and is situated near the President's residence and the Jerusalem Theater. The museum is situated in Jerusalem and exhibits pottery, textiles, jewelry, ceremonial objects and the like, covering a thousand years of Islamic art, from Spain to India.
Mrs. Salomons's increasing interest in the culture and the art of Islam led to her founding the L.A. Mayer Memorial Museum of Islamic Art, in honor and in memory of her beloved professor who died in 1959, and in recognition of a subject which she believed would cause a closeness between Israeli and Arabs.
The Museum comprises nine galleries staged in chronological order, displaying the beliefs and art of the Islamic civilization. The core of the Museum collection was the result of acquisitions made by Mrs. Salomons to complement Prof. Mayer's private collection, and various art objects in the display - chess pieces, dominos and antique playing cards; daggers, swords, helmets; textiles and carpets; decorated jewelry; items made of glass, pottery and metalware for everyday use — to enable visitors to visualize life in the Islamic countries.
One of the galleries is dedicated to the David Salomons Collection of watches and clocks, in which the visitor may see a display of European timepieces and music boxes, mostly dating from the 18th and 19th centuries.
