Arabesque is one of the most famous arts throughout history, and it was known as ornamentation, Arabic decoration, or Arab art. Tarabsque is a combination of rhythmic linear patterns and intricate geometric patterns to decorate intersecting and intersecting motifs, often figures of flowers, fruits or leaves. Arabesque art relies on repetitions, wood, shells and metals such as copper and gold as ores.
It has spread to furniture and home décor. The arabesque is an element of traditional Islamic art, which is usually found as decoration for the walls and corners of the mosque. The choice of geometric shapes to be used, and how it will be used, is based on Islam’s view of the world and its extension and integration.
Despite the beauty and elegance of this art, it is on its way to complete extinction, and there are some serious steps to revive it and to bring it back in modern forms to home decor and souvenirs, to mix again within societies in their various uses.
The beginning of the Arabesque art:
The “Arabesque art” is one of the original arts that characterized the Arab Islamic civilization, and its origin may go back more than a thousand years. The beginning of the emergence of arabesque is due to the blending of the Arab civilization and its development in the golden Islamic era with other peoples, and Andalusians were the main developers of this art.
It was originally an industry concerned with the architectural aspect, and it was sometimes involved in home décor and furnishing. However, it became more prominent during the Ottoman Caliphate, when it was more interested in decorating houses and palaces, and it flourished in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The primitive origin of this art may be due to the ideas of Plato and Euclid on the geometric shapes of a separate reality, crystalline and Euclidean geometry, but when Muslims excelled in the geometric and mathematical side, it arose out of it in its use in decoration, decoration and architecture. Those who developed these geometric shapes were Al-Abbas bin Saeed Al-Gohary (who lived from 800-860), Muhammad bin Musa Al-Khwarizmi (780-850), Abu Wafa Al-Bouzjani (940-998), and Al-Giani (989-1079), in order to serve other things. Such as the direction of the qiblah, knowing fasting time, prayer times and other Islamic uses.
Arabesque has been used by different peoples around the world to varying degrees of sophistication, among them the Indians, the Chinese, the ancient Mexicans, and others. And that in their buildings and it was often a symbolic aspect of some religious meanings such as immortality, perfection and other meanings.
Arabesque in Islamic history:
Since the arabesque originated in the embrace of the ancient Islamic civilization, the Arabs were the pioneers of this field and the knights of its field, so they appeared in Egypt and the Levant, and it was used almost in everything to beautify entire cities and neighborhoods with their walls, streets and mosques, in addition to the unique masterpieces of columns, crowns and pulpits Mosques, mashrabiyas and doors.
Entire cities and neighborhoods were devoted to these works, which formed what looked like artistic workshops or educational schools for this art, which began to disappear more than half a century ago. In addition to Arab artists, he also mastered the Seljuk element in this art, so what is known as Seljuk art appeared, but it was also in the Arab region.
Then in the Ottoman era, an unprecedented spread in the history of the region spread, so most artists traveled to the headquarters of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul, to visit the palaces and mosques of the wealthy, princes and governors, due to the interest of the wealthy and Ottoman sultans to impart uniqueness to their palaces and homes, and the Arab and Islamic region at that time witnessed many manifestations of development Cultural, social and artistic, especially the "Arabesque" art. And most of the artwork dominated the decorative character.
Arabesque shapes:
The Arabesque art spread in almost all aspects of society. It was not only confined to furniture in Islamic styles of various shapes and uses, but was also used in the architecture of mosques, palaces, city walls, castle walls, and other uses. Indeed, he moved to the eating vessels, and we built entire palaces, columns, pulpits, and high minarets, in addition to mashrabiyas, windows and doors, and sometimes it was "arabesque". However, arabesque was best used for furniture, home décor and souvenirs.
The many colors used by “arabesque art” impart a special charm that distinguishes it from other mainstream arts, and these shapes distinguish the aesthetics of decoration, repeating lines, graceful and innate drawings, because Arabesque art includes supporting arts such as engraving, decoration, calligraphy, drawing, interlocking, engraving and inlay.
It was also used in embroidering Islamic manuscripts such as books, in addition to embroidering the Qur’an, as is the case at the beginning and at the end of the surah, and on the cover of the Qur’an - as we find it in ancient manuscripts of the Holy Qur’an.
What are the old Arabesque tools?
Among the basic tools for producing arabesque artifacts in the past are: wood, hammer, nubus, ivory, dyes, paint and finishing materials, sandpaper, drawing paper, jigsaw, turner chisels, nibs, mufflers, meters, and other traditional tools that may be relatively obsolete. It is overshadowed by modern gadgets.
What are the names of Arabesque artifacts?
There are some names that came into existence as a result of the art of arabesque, due to the frequent use of arabesque in it. Including the mashrabiyas: It is a window with a shelf that opens to the outside and is in a high place in the house to put the pot of water made of clay for drinking and the reason for the high place for cooling through the air, and that is why it was called Mashrabiya. And she has wonderful sculptures in a souvenir shop. Including also the Musharrafiya: It is a window that overlooks the street or the neighborhood, and it is called the Musharrafiya because it overlooks the street or the neighborhood. Including also the cannons, which are a box placed on the wall inside homes that have a high ceiling.
What are the best designs of modern Arabesque art?
The Souvenir Center presents this art in its new dress in the form of wonderful models and installations, including the wooden Qur’an holder , which is a unique masterpiece of its kind.
You can also gift it to your relatives and friends, as the Holy Quran and its wooden holder are among the most traditional and Islamic souvenirs.
Among the distinctive products are also: the heritage models of historical monuments, including the models of the historical gate of Jeddah with a modern design in three dimensions, as well as the models of the Hijazi Roshan, the models of the Jeddah Gate and other models of Islamic historical landmarks that reflect the Arab heritage.