Damascus: Inlayers of Furniture
Date: 1892-93
During his visit to the sūq of the old town of Damascus Albert Terhune (d. 1942) records that makers of inlay and other artisans had workshops and storerooms on Straight Street. The goods from these storerooms would be sold in the sūq. See also: carpenter; wood carver; intarsia worker.
Citation: Terhune, Albert Payson, Syria from the Saddle: A Description of the Holy Land today, as seen through a young man’s Eyes (New York: Silver, Burdett and Co., 1896), p. 49.
Date: 1899
A report dating to 1899 records that silversmiths were operating in the Syrian capital. They produced small tables and pedestals. See also: Seller of Mother-of-Pearl; Maker of Clogs; Carpenter.
Citation: R. Oberhummer and H. Zimmerer quoted in Kalter, Johannes, “Urban Handicrafts”, in Kalter, Johannes, Margareta Pavaloi, and Maria Zerrnickel, eds. The Arts and Crafts of Syria: Collection Antoine Touma and Linden-Museum Stuttgart (London and New York: Thames and Hudson, 1992), p. 64.
Date: c. 1906
Makers of inlaid woodwork are seen in the Syrian capital by Henry Van Dyke (d. 1933). He describes their workshops as “factories”. See also: Carpenter; Maker of Clogs (qabāqibī); Dealer in Mother-of-Pearl.
Citation: Van Dyke, Henry. Out of Doors in the Holy Land: Impressions of Travel in Body and Spirit, Outdoor Essays IV (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1908, reprinted 1920), p. 292.
Date: c. 1990
Johannes Kalter describes the revival of traditional Syrian crafts such as the making of inlaid furniture. He notes that artisans employed antique prototypes from museums as well as making use of old catalogues produced for the 1897 Paris World Exhibition. New styles of furniture were being developed to follow customer demand. See also: Carpenter; Seller of Mother-of-Pearl; Maker of Clogs; Maker of Wood Intarsia.
Citation: Kalter, Johannes, “Urban Handicrafts”, in Kalter, Johannes, Margareta Pavaloi, and Maria Zerrnickel, eds. The Arts and Crafts of Syria: Collection Antoine Touma and Linden-Museum Stuttgart (London and New York: Thames and Hudson, 1992), pp. 64-66.
Date: c. 2010
In c. 2010 Stephen McPhillips photographed a workshop in Damascus producing wooden furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl and bone. See also: Carpenter; Mirror Frame Maker; Maker of Clogs.
Citation: Milwright, Marcus, ‘Wood and Woodworking in Late Ottoman Damascus: An Analysis of the Qāmūs al-Ṣināʿāt al-Shāmiyya’, Bulletin d’Etudes Orientales 61 (2012), pp. 555, 566, fig. 4, 5.