Syrian craftsmen created a room with walnut paneled walls that frame a series of elaborate painted doorways, cupboards and shuttered windows. The decoration is typical of the Ottoman decorative style, featuring flowering vases and pedestal bowls full of fruits, highlighted against a gilt pattern of stylized leaves and blossoms. These motifs show the influence of Ottoman textile and ceramic designs infused with elements of European baroque art.
The decoration of the wall panels, which are dated by inscription to 1711 – 1712, was clearly in vogue for the time period. The same pictorial style may be seen in a parlor room built five years earlier for the Harem of the Topkapi Palace at Istnabul by the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III (1703 to 1730). By contrast, this room’s elaborate ceiling, with octagonal coffers set within a network of four-pointed stars, follows a traditional pattern that dates back at least 13th-century Mamluk Cairo. The ordering of this varied arabesque and geometric star patterns is based upon a strict sequence of repeated design that unfold in mirror image from the center of each axis.
The cupboards to the left and right of the main doorway offer a glimpse of the various decorative and utilitarian objects that adorned the house during its final phase of usage in the early 20th century.
Calligraphy plays an important role in the decoration of the entire room. The upper walls on the three sides are decorated with panels inscribed with cursive Arabic containing adages, blessings, and literary allusions referring to the prophet Muhammad. They are executed in ‘thuluth’, a monumental script favored for framed inscriptions in the mosque and home.
The rooms marble floor was created for this space and is assembled from varieties of antique Mediterranean marble. Its scheme and proportions are based upon an original 16th or 17th mosaic floor panel that was acquired for display in this room. This panel is an excellent example of ‘opus sectile’, the ancient inlay technique using cut pieces of stone to form mosaic patterns.
To see this room, visit the Cincinnati Art Museum.
See the room in 360-degrees. Use your mouse to scroll through the image.
Address
953 Eden Park Dr, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Google Map Link
Museum Hours
Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Thursdays, 11 a.m.–8 p.m
Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day
How Much is the Entrance Fee
General museum admission is always FREE. For special exhibition, it is $16 (adults), $8 (children).
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