Window frame
Meknès, Morocco
Dar Jamai Museum
Hegira 12th-13th centuries / AD 18th-19th centuries
63.4.97
Sculpted, decorated, turned and painted wood.
Height 177 cm, length 112 cm
'Alawid
Meknès.
A twisted strip and a carved band decorated with a braid of eight-pointed stars runs around the outside of this quadrangular window frame. It consists of three sections: an upper frieze, a balustrade and the gemelled arcature of the opening. All of the wood is covered with a red base and painted in two shades of brown, yellow ochre, ivory white and some green.
The frieze and the balustrade consist of mashrabiyya latticework arranged in a chequered or a diamond pattern. Above this latticework, grooved strips on the balustrade form a knotwork pattern consisting of eight-pointed stars and, on the upper frieze, poly-lobed arches and eight-pointed stars on each side frame a square central medallion bearing the votive inscription 'Mohammed's blessing' in rectangular kufic characters.
The opening, surrounded by two frames, the first in turned wood and the second carved into eight-pointed star knotwork, consists of two gemeled horseshoe arches. These arches are supported on a small column and two small engaged demi-columns in turned wood that are fluted at the base and have simulated capitals. All of the components of this last section are decorated with polychrome plant motifs borrowed both from the Moroccan–Andalusian repertoire and the Ottoman repertoire: foliage, single and double palms, fleurons and carnations.
With its harmonious polychromy, this external window frame, which looked over the courtyard of a wealthy residence of the 13th / 19th century is a good example of the careful work of the Meknès carpenters who gained renown in this art when their town became the capital of the 'Alawid kingdom under the reign of Mulay Isma'il (AH 1083–1140 / AD 1672–1727).
The outer frame of a window overlooking the courtyard of an expensive house is an example of turned, painted wood from Meknès, an art form that flourished in the imperial city from the beginning of the 'Alawid era. The plant decoration is borrowed from Hispano-Maghrebic and Ottoman repertoires.
From stylistic and comparative analysis. This type of carpentry, which gives pre-eminence to polychromy and can be found in other museum examples, was first seen in the late 11th / 17th century and became particularly widespread in the 13th / 19th century when middle-class residences, where this sort of work can still be seen, were built in increasing numbers.
Purchased in 1963.
From the place it was purchased and its style, which is typical of Meknès.
Barrucand, M., L'architecture de la qasba de Moulay Ismaïl à Meknès, Casablanca, 1978.
Marçais, G., L'Architecture musulmane d'Occident, Paris, 1954.
Paccard, A., Le Maroc et l'artisanat traditionnel islamique dans l'architecture, Vol. 2, Paris, 1979.
Terrasse, H. and Hainaut, J., Les arts décoratifs au Maroc, Paris, 1925.
Naima El Khatib-Boujibar "Window frame" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;ma;Mus01_A;30;en
MWNF Working Number: MO 40
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