Harvard Art Museums > 1981.10: Ceiling Facet Architectural Elements Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Ceiling Facet , 1981.10,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Jun 12, 2025, https://hvrd.art/o/216127. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text Lines intersect and interlace to form a star and polygon pattern in this ceiling fragment. In prestigious buildings, panels of cedar carved and painted with complex designs were often employed to cover the wooden beam construction used throughout Morocco during the reigns of the Saʿdid (1554–1659) and early ʿAlawid (1664–present) dynasties. For viewers glancing upward, the pattern may have seemed celestial, alluding to a divinely ordered universe. The interlacing geometric mode of ornament underwent intense development around the year 1000 in Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Empire. Initially applied to objects or parts of buildings with symbolic or religious value, the style came to be used for a broad range of structures and portable objects. Geometric interlace spread eastward and westward, but its decorative possibilities — rhythmic and complex, yet austere — found particular favor across North Africa from the late eleventh to the early seventeenth century. Identification and Creation Object Number 1981.10 Title Ceiling Facet Classification Architectural Elements Work Type architectural element Date 16th-17th century Places Creation Place: Africa, Morocco Period Sa'did period Culture Moroccan Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/216127 Location Location Level 2, Room 2550, Art from Islamic Lands, The Middle East and North Africa View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Carved and painted wood Technique Painted Dimensions H: 74 x W: 67 x Depth no greater than: 17 cm (29 1/8 x 26 3/8 x 6 11/16 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History [Spink and Son, Ltd, London, 1981], sold; to Fogg Art Museum, 1981. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Fund for the Acquisition of Islamic Art Accession Year 1981 Object Number 1981.10 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description Lines intersect and interlace to form a star and polygon pattern in this ceiling fragment. In prestigious buildings, panels of cedar carved and painted with complex designs were often employed to cover the wooden beam construction used throughout Morocco during the reigns of the Saʿdid (1554–1659) and early ʿAlawid (1664–present) dynasties. For viewers glancing upward, the pattern may have seemed celestial, alluding to a divinely ordered universe. The interlacing geometric mode of ornament underwent intense development around the year 1000 in Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Empire. Initially applied to objects or parts of buildings with symbolic or religious value, the style came to be used for a broad range of structures and portable objects. Geometric interlace spread eastward and westward, but its decorative possibilities — rhythmic and complex, yet austere — found particular favor across North Africa from the late eleventh to the early seventeenth century. Publication History Michele de Angelis and Thomas W. Lentz, Architecture in Islamic Painting: Permanent and Impermanent Worlds, brochure, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, Mass, 1982) Stephan Wolohojian and Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Harvard Art Museum/ Handbook, ed. Stephan Wolohojian, Harvard Art Museum (Cambridge, 2008), p. 122 Exhibition History Islamic Art: Drawings, Calligraphies and Objects, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 06/29/1983 - 09/25/1983 Islamic Art: The Power of Pattern, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 09/23/1989 - 01/17/1990 Arabesque, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 12/01/1990 - 03/24/1991 Woven, Hammered, and Thrown: Textiles and Objects from the Islamic World, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/22/1991 - 08/18/1991 Recent Acquisitions, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/04/1992 - 06/21/1992 Pattern and Purpose. Decorative Arts of Islam., Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 02/19/1994 - 07/03/1994 32Q: 2550 Islamic, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050 Subjects and Contexts Google Art Project Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
