This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English, Arabic.

Name of Object:

Door

Location:

Shahaniya, Qatar

Holding Museum:

FBQ Museum

About FBQ Museum, Shahaniya

Current Owner:

Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani

Date of Object:

18th century

Museum Inventory Number:

FBQ.HH.1535

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Wood; carving

Dimensions:

Length: 210cm, Width: 107cm

Period / Dynasty:

Omani

Provenance:

Oman

Description:

Heavy carvings with remnants of paint accentuate this door which may have graced a mud-brick house to impress guests with rosette, date palm, and frankincense tree patterns symbolizing fertility, life, and wealth. Characteristic of traditional architecture of Oman, Omani doors, frames, and windows would serve as centrepieces to contrast the modest homes, expressing status and hospitality. As symmetry in Islamic art intends to achieve harmony, a mirrored inscription reads, “My success is only by Allah”.

Since meticulous carvings also decorate doors in East Africa, Afghanistan, and Punjab, lands connected to Oman by trade routes, mutual influences question the doors’ origin.

How date and origin were established:

The date and origin were established in research-based comparison from an examination of material, calligraphy, engraving and pattern.

How Object was obtained:

Purchase

How provenance was established:

The date and origin were established in research-based comparison from an examination of material, calligraphy, engraving and pattern.

Selected bibliography:

Hegazy, S. M., "Conservation of Historical Buildings–The Omani–French Museum as a Case Study", HBRC Journal, 11 : 2 (2015): 264-274.
Mershen, B., "Settlement Space and Architecture in South Arabian Oases - Ethnoarchaeological Investigations in Recently Abandoned Settlement Quarters in Inner Oman", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 28 (1998): 201–213.
Nooter, N. I., "Zanzibar Doors", African Arts, 17 : 4 (1984): 34–96.

Citation of this web page:

Sarah Schroeder "Door" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;qt;Mus22;13;en

Prepared by: Sarah Schroeder
Copyedited by: Valerie Pulsifer

MWNF Working Number: QT2 13