Damascene ‘ajami Rooms

This richly illustrated volume offers an in-depth exploration of ‘Ajami decoration, a refined historical technique used to embellish the interiors of traditional Damascene courtyard houses. Blending stylistic, historical, and technical analysis, the study traces the evolution of this ornate craft from the 17th century onward. Featuring painted and gilded wood, tinted plaster, mother-of-pearl inlays, and more, these interiors reflect a lost era of urban elegance in the Near East-each room a testament to extraordinary artisanal skill and cultural heritage.

This beautifully illustrated volume provides a unique insight into a sophisticated historical technique which was employed to adorn private interiors in traditional Arab courtyard houses in Damascus. ‘Ajami decoration is almost universal in the interior adornment of Damascene houses, and this study, done from the stylistic, historical – as well as the technical – points of view, has resulted in a unique and valuable document on the history of Damascus decoration since the 17th century. The incredibly beautiful interiors of these houses bear silent witness to a bygone and almost-forgotten era of urban life in the Near East-each one an impressive masterpiece of the artisan’s craft. Painted and gilded stone reliefs, tinted plaster and patterned paste work decoration, elaborately painted wood embellished with metal leaf, mother-of-pearl inlays, and mirrors were combined in ever-varying and beautiful ways. Luxurious carpets, cushions, mattresses, small tables and stands, and porcelain and metal objects d’art ensured that the reception rooms were also comfortable living spaces.

Formalia

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

I Introduction to the domestic architecture of Damascus

II Materials and techniques used for the decoration of Damascene residences

1 Stone and plaster decorations

1.1 Opus sectile: stone mosaic

1.2 Stone reliefs: partially painted and gilded

1.3 Marble slabs with raised Ê¿ajami decor

1.4 Ablaq banding

1.5 Ablaq paste-work

1.6 Upper wall zone

1.7 Landscape paintings

2 Wooden elements: doors, window shutters, wall panelling and ceilings

3 Glass gypsum windows

4 Mirrors

5 Tiles

6 Textiles

7 Damascene interior decorations: a harmonious concert of surface textures, gloss, colours and light

III Ê¿ajami wall panels and ceilings: a general typology

1 Interiors with wooden cabinet doors, niche frames and window shutters placed in an undecorated or ablaq stone wall

2 Interiors with overall wooden wall panelling

2.1 Rooms consisting of a plain framework with richly decorated Ê¿ajami panels

2.2 Rooms with entire panelling adorned with Ê¿ajamidecoration

3 Wooden ceilings

3.1 Visible beam ceilings: beam and coffer type

3.2 Visible beam ceilings: shisha type

3.3 Covered beam ceilings with centre panel and concentric frames

3.4 Covered beam ceilings with flat boards

3.5 Ceilings with three-dimensional openwork carvings and mirrors

3.6 Ceiling divisions: arch or beam construction

3.7 Additional ceiling elements: squinches and centre decorations

IV Other architectural and decorative elements of Ê¿ajami interiors

1 Entrance doors

2 Window shutters, soffits and grilles

3 Niches and wall cabinets

4 Cornices and cornice boards

V Ornaments, paintings and inscriptions

1 Iconography of the painted decoration

2 Inscriptions

VI History of Ê¿ajami decoration in Syria

1 Damascus

2 Aleppo

3 Further research

VII Historic materials and painting techniques used for Ê¿ajami decoration

1 Wood types and construction

2 Reused building material

3 Preparation of the wood for the painted decoration

4 Ground layers

5 Underdrawing and underwriting

6 Application of raised Ê¿ajami ornaments (pastiglia)

7 Metal leaf and foil application

8 Punchwork

9 Coloured glazes on metal leaf or foil

10 Paintings

11 Outlines

12 Textural contrasts in Ê¿ajami rooms

VIII Ê¿ajami workshops in the past and today

IX Surface appearance of Ê¿ajami decoration today: aging phenomena and colour changes

1 Disruptions or damages occurring during the drying process of the paint layers

2 Fading and discoloration of paint layers

3 Surface changes due to metal corrosion

4 Colour and surface changes caused by later applied varnish layers

4.1 Darkening of blue smalt paint layers

4.2 Darkening of the overall colour scheme

4.3 ‘Islands’ of dissolved glaze and varnish

4.4 Cracking and flaking in paint layers

5 Changes resulting from previous cleaning

X Bringing the old beauty back to life: an approach to the conservation and restoration of historic Ê¿ajami rooms

1 Conservation approach

2 Treatment of cracking and flaking surface decoration

3 Cleaning

4 Removal of later applied paint layers

XI Catalogue of Damascene Ê¿ajami interiors

1 Damascene Ê¿ajami interiors with original preserved surfaces

XII Catalogue of Ê¿ajami rooms preserved in collections worldwide

1Ê¿ajami rooms in Europe

Damascus Room, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Damascus Room, Museum of Applied Art, Budapest

Damascus Room, Museum of Applied Art, Düsseldorf

Pierre Loti House, Rochefort

Damascus Room, Ethnological Museum, Dresden

Oriental Lounge, Bojnice Castle, National Museum, Slovakia

Arabicum, Villa Gutmann, Potsdam

Aleppo Room, Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin

2 Ê¿ajami rooms in America

Chicago World’s Fair, 1893

Brooklyn Museum, New York

Damascus Room, Cincinnati Arts Museum

Damascus Room, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Damascene ablaq-Ê¿ajami interior, attributed to the ‘Quwatli house’

Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, New York University

Syria-Lebanon Room, Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh

Damascus Room and Syrian Room, Shangri La, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, Honolulu, Hawai'i

3 Ê¿ajami rooms in Asia and Africa

Robert Mouawad Private Museum, Beirut

Gayer-Anderson Museum, Cairo

Ottoman Room, Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

Tareq Rajab Museum, Kuwait

Appendix

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

• By (author) Anke Scharrahs