Name of Object:

Small table

Location:

Algiers, Algeria

Holding Museum:

National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts

About National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts, Algiers

Date of Object:

Hegira 925–1245 / AD 1519–1830

Artist(s) / Craftsperson(s):

Ibn Hadj-la-B’lade.

Museum Inventory Number:

II.B.48

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Cut out pieces of wood, ornamented with openwork and painted; earthenware tiles.

Dimensions:

Height 63 cm, length 83 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Algiers.

Description:

A small table, rectangular in shape and on four legs, which consists of a tray clad with Delft earthenware tiles that feature floral decoration and are surrounded by an openwork band.
Four sides of this small table are covered by sculpted, turned and openwork panels featuring floral or vegetal motifs. In the corners, along the extension of the legs with which they form part, vertical cartouches feature inscriptions in cursive lettering; one of these reveals the name of the craftsman and the location of the object's manufacture through the phrase 'made by Ibn Hadj-la-B'lade al-Djazaïri'.
The item of furniture is painted in a variety of colours, notably green, orange and gold.

Rectangular four-legged table consisting of a top covered with Delft earthenware tiles with floral decoration surrounded by an openwork railing. There are carved panels on all four sides, and inscriptions in cursive characters on each of the corners. The piece is painted green and orange, and gilded.

How date and origin were established:

From the style of manufacture and the decoration, as well as from the earthenware tiles of Delft, which were imported from Holland during the Ottoman era.

Selected bibliography:

Institut du Monde Arabe, L'Algérie en héritage, art et histoire, catalogue, Paris, 2003.
Marçais, G., Le musée Stéphane Gsell, musée des antiquités et d'art musulman d'Alger, Algiers, 1950.
Marye, G., Catalogue du Musée national des antiquités algériennes, Part 2, Algiers, 1899.

Citation of this web page:

Leila Merabet "Small table" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;dz;Mus01;36;en

Prepared by: Leila MerabetLeila Merabet

Titulaire d'un magister en archéologie islamique (spécialité épigraphie arabe), conservateur du patrimoine archéologique et historique, Leila Merabet est chef du service Conservation et Valorisation (section islamique) au Musée national des antiquités. Elle a publié de nombreux articles dans les Annales du Musée national des antiquités.
Copyedited by: Margot Cortez
Translation by: Maria Vlotides
Translation copyedited by: Monica Allen

MWNF Working Number: AL 63