There is a general misconception, that Islamic lacquer owes its origin to the Far East and
that it was introduced only towards the late 16th or early 17th century. Archaeological
evidence, however, revealed, that lacquer was known and practised in the Islamic world
well before that time and furthermore, that it was an entirely different technique, not
related to that of the Far East. Its roots should be sought in Ancient Egypt and in Byzantine
art. While in the Far East (i.e. in Chinese and Japanese arts) lacquer was used as a painting
medium, in the Islamic world, however, painting was never carried out in lacquer, instead the
surface was first painted and then coated with a transparent lacquered or varnished layer.
In more recent times lacquer, or lacquered decoration, became a popular media in Iran, Turkey,
Syria and India where it survives until the present day. The Tareq Rajab Museum has some forty
pieces of different types of lacquerwork in its collection, originating from Iran, India,
Turkey and Egypt.
Excavations in Egypt at Fustat and Qusayr al-Qadim and in several places in Iran, brought
to light early lacquered vessels. An early example in the Museum's collection is the wooden
box which was carved out of a palm trunk and was then carved, painted and finally lacquered
(no. 1, LQR0009TSR). Similar boxes were excavated at Qusayr al-Qadim and they were dating from
the Mamluk period, i.e. late 14th and early 15th century. The Museum's box dates from the
same period. Another early and rare example is the carved, painted and lacquered Qur'an stand
or rahla which may be dated to the 14th or early 15th century (no.2, LQR0018TSR). It was most
likely made in Turkey. In the Maulana Museum at Konya there is a similar carved and lacquered
rahla which bears the date of 677AH/AD1278. The lacquered canteen most likely originates from
India and may be ascribed to the 18th century (no. 3, LQR0012TSR). The large cupboard in the
centre of the cabinet comes from Syria and also dates from the 18th century (no. 4,
LQR0013TSR). The gun-powder holders (nos.5 and 6, LQR0004TSR and LQR0005TSR) were made of
leather, carved, painted and lacquered. They are most likely of Indian origin. One of them
(no. 6) bears the date of 1277AH/AD1860. The Indian mirror case bears the signature of a
famous artist, Ali Qali and the date: 1105AH/AD1693(no.7, LQR0017TSR). Another mirror case
of Iranian provenance successfully combines Islamic and Christian religious scenes, was the
work of another famous artist, Najaf, who was active during the middle of the 19th century
(no.8, LQR0003TSR). There are two other mirror cases, which are of the same period (nos.9 -
10, LQR0006TSR and LQR0010TSR).
One of the most popular and widely used lacquered objects were pen-boxes, or qalamdans.
Some of these were quite large in size and these were known in Persian as "qalamdan-e bozorg"
("large pen-box"), like no. 11, LQR0002TSR. The smaller ones were made in considerably larger
numbers and their decorations may include landscapes, portraits or even battle scenes (nos.12
- 13, LQR0000TSR - LQR0000TSR). The large wooden box depicts various phases of a wedding
ceramony (no.14, LQR0015TSR). The brass and steel scale set is also placed in a lacquered
wooden box and may be dated to the second half of the 19th century (no.15, LQR0016TSR). The
octagonal table is a Kashmiri work and was made during the first part of the 20th century
(no.16, LQR0019TSR).
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