My favorite piece from the Islamic art collection was the Elephant-shaped Kendi Drinking Vessel. I liked this piece because it was an ordinary item with such meaning because elephants often symbolize strength and wisdom. I also liked the colors of the piece, which seemed to be a pattern in the collection. I noticed a lot of blue and red colored pieces. Along with this, the Islamic art collection seemed to favor floral patterns on everything from pottery to carpets. There were many pieces that showed strength and masculinity I believe. These pieces ranged from weapons to armor. Another major pattern I noticed throughout many pieces was the importance of animals. There were animal shaped pieces, along with pictures of animals on other pieces.
A pattern I see in the book that can be related to the pieces in the museum was the importance of animals. For instance, there is an entire short story about an ox and a donkey in the beginning of the book. This story also includes animals such as a dog, rooster, and hens. Although only one man was able to understand the animals, they were still given dialogue which shows they are important, maybe even as important as humans. Another pattern I see in the book so far is the importance of masculinity, if a woman cheats on her husband, she is killed and all women are looked down on from that point on. This can be related to the weapons and armor that are in the collection because it shows that men are strong and cannot be seen as weak.