Jennifer Scarce B.A., F.S.A.(Scot)

We regret to announce the death on 23rd October of former Council member Jennifer Scarce, exactly a month before her 88th birthday.

Jennifer had a long and fruitful association with BIPS from 1968 as a member of the Siraf team to serving on the Council between 2015 and 2018. In 1963 she was appointed curator in charge of the collections of Eastern Cultures, National Museum of Scotland, with a broad remit that stretched from China and Central Asia to the Middle East and North Africa. During her time there she made many visits to Iran collecting for the Museum. On retirement in 1998 she was appointed Honorary Lecturer in Middle Eastern Cultures at the University of Dundee, and was also appointed Honorary Fellow in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

She has arranged many permanent and temporary exhibitions of Middle Eastern culture for the Museum and travelled widely since 1968 in the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe – Iran, Turkey, Georgia, the Arab Gulf states, Egypt, Tunisia, Romania, Bosnia and Morocco – both collecting contemporary textiles and dress for the Museum and also pursuing research projects as varied as carpet weaving in Romania, Ottoman Turkish court dress, the tile-work decoration of 19th century Iranian architecture and the material culture of the North Africa and the Arab world. Her many publications include articles and books on Middle Eastern dress and most recently Domestic Culture in the Middle East. She was also interested in European travellers to the Middle East, especially those of Scottish origin. At the time of her death she was working on an important volume on Qajar tilework.

Members of BIPS extend condolences to her family.