Name of Object:

Panel decorated with a mosque

Location:

Tunis, Tunisia

Holding Museum:

Sidi Qasim al-Jalizi Museum

Date of Object:

Hegira 12th century / AD 18th century

Museum Inventory Number:

P 020

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Polychrome ceramic.

Dimensions:

Height 140 cm, width 80 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Husaynid Beys (Ottoman)

Provenance:

The Qallaline workshop at Tunis.

Description:

An Ottoman mosque with its typical truncated-cone minarets is painted within a horseshoe arch spanning two lateral columns. In the lower panel is a complex arrangement of flowers and leaves in a small vase. Tulips, sunflowers and carnations are intermingled with scrolled palm- and vine-leaves. These are arranged symmetrically and the whole pattern is contained within a second horseshoe arch.
A broad selection of different foliated scrolls, leaves and flowers of all kinds decorate the lunettes, the arch-stones and the capitols. This great profusion of foliage is nonetheless cleverly organised.
The main colours are the background beige (white lead or tin base), brown (manganese oxide base), yellow (antimony oxide base) green (copper oxide base) and blue (cobalt oxide base). Although the decoration is Ottoman-inspired the colours and techniques used in the production of this panel come from the Andalusian tradition. This combination of influences resulted in Tunisian ceramics taking on their unique character.

The decoration, colours and manufacturing technique used in this panel are typical of Tunisian ceramics, where Andalusian traditions mixed with Ottoman influences. An Ottoman mosque is painted inside a horseshoe arch, and the lower panel is decorated with a small vase containing a spray of flowers.

How date and origin were established:

The decoration, colours and manufacture of this panel are typical of the Qallaline workshops' production at Tunis during the 12th / 18th century.

How Object was obtained:

This piece comes from the Bardo Museum and was acquired by the Sidi Qasim al-Jalizi Museum at the time of its inauguration in 1978.

How provenance was established:

Stylistic analysis.

Citation of this web page:

Mourad Rammah "Panel decorated with a mosque" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2020. http://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tn;Mus01_C;25;en

Prepared by: Mourad RammahMourad Rammah

Né en 1953 à Kairouan, docteur en archéologie islamique, Mourad Rammah est le conservateur de la médina de Kairouan. Lauréat du prix Agha Khan d'architecture, il publie divers articles sur l'histoire de l'archéologie médiévale islamique en Tunisie et participe à différentes expositions sur l'architecture islamique. De 1982 à 1994, il est en charge du département de muséographie du Centre des arts et des civilisations islamiques. Mourad Rammah est également directeur du Centre des manuscrits de Kairouan.
Copyedited by: Margot Cortez
Translation by: David Ash
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: TN 41