The Arabesque® 8" x 9" Wooden Wall Hanging Inspired by The popular Stucco Carvings of the Facade of the Umayyad Desert Palace of Qasr Mshatta

The country of Jordan is home to many of the oldest desert palaces belonging to the early Islamic era during the Umayyad period of rule. These desert palaces give us clues about early Islamic art and its inspiration from local Byzantine and Persian Sassanian sources of art and architecture all around the Middle East.

One such palace is Qasr Mshatta, located in Jordan. It was likely built during the reign of the Umayyad caliph Walid II (r. 743 - 744) as a small winter palace. Its main entrance gate is a wonder of early Islamic art because it has delicately carved stucco designs which ornamented the facade of the building. popular

Stucco carvings exist throughout the palace buildings. These depicts all types of early vocabularies which would become common arabesque patterns. There are also several animal motifs, lions, griffins, birds, and many other types of creatures.

We captured one of the stucco reliefs from the palace which was in a roundel depicting birds and grapes in this wooden wall hanging. Mixing laser etching, design, color, and mixed media, we created this modern wall hanging inspired by the facade of Qasr Mshatta. The original facade is one color, we imagined that ancient motif with new modern colors and elements.

It's our way of bringing history to you, arabesque style!