Publication Date
In the year 1180 AH / 1766-67 AD
Publication Place
-
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Subject
Poplar wood with embossed plaster, tin leaves, brass, glazing, paint and plaster with stone paste inlay, marble and multi-colored stones.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
المجموعة : 609.6 × 457.2 × 600 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
M.2014.33
Record ID
object;EPM;us;Mus21;24;ar
Library Location
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Date
In the year 1180 AH / 1766-67 AD
Notes
The room was properly dismantled from the yard of a house in Hayalbash, Damascus, which was demolished to build a road. With the exception of its wooden ceiling panels, which were not preserved, the room is in largely original condition and has one of the most intact painted surfaces - including bright pinks, oranges, blues and greens - of any similar room from the period. As is characteristic, it includes colored stone floor tiles, carved and painted wooden walls, doors to exquisite cabinets and storage areas, plaster blocks decorated with stone paste inlay, which divide the room into upper and lower sections separated by a long step, and a fountain with an intricately and unusually inlaid stone wall with a cover of carved and painted stone. Most painted wooden surfaces are decorated with a special type of relief decoration known in Arabic as Ajami, which is typical of this period. This technique produces raised designs of plaster (mixed with glue), which are then covered with metallic paper and dry paint. The graphic band of Arabic poetry, adapted from the Hamaziya by the Egyptian poet Sharaf al-Din Muhammad ibn Sa`id al-Busayri (died approximately in the year 696 AH / 1297 AD), surrounds the upper line of the walls. The main floral decoration is probably based on textile designs, while the room cornices include detailed depictions of fruit plates and sweets.
Sample Text
“Damascus Room” within Discover Islamic Art Collections. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;us;Mus21;24;ar
