The Influence of Islamic Decoration on the Victorian

Illustration: Wall tiling decoration of the Pavilion of Mahubay, 16th century

The influences and origins of nineteenth century English decorative arts, its pattern work, design styles and principles, is both complex and wide ranging. However, at the forefront of these influences is undoubtedly the impact of the decorative arts of Islam. From the reform principles of Owen Jones to the accomplished founder of the English Arts & Crafts movement William Morris, to the many designers, decorators, critics and writers of Victorian Britain, Islam proved to be a particularly rich deposit of what determined to be the fundamental level of all design, decoration and pattern as seen by the Victorians. Many saw and were on record as stating, that the principles behind the Islamic decorative arts system, along with its extremely effective visual record, was the only effective means of producing contemporary surface or flat pattern work.

Illustration: Islamic wall tiling decoration, 16th century

From woven and printed textiles, to carpet weaving, wallpaper design and ceramic tile work, the Victorians took Islamic design principles to heart. Non-representational, flat and graphic inspired pattern work was produced across design disciplines, and while some may dismiss this appearance as a form of fashion or intermittent enthusiasm for the decorative effects of Islamic design, very much as the revival movements that plagued the nineteenth century, this particular movement was much more centrally based within the Victorian decorative psyche.

Islamic designers were particularly expert at producing surface pattern. They had an innate understanding of both the materials used and the medium of surface decoration, as well as a mature approach to colour and tone. This greatly appealed to the English design reform movement. These reformers were trying to make sense of the muddled and chaotic decorative arts that had been a product of the first half of the nineteenth century with its new, wide-ranging but undisciplined manufacturing and retail system. They were determined that the second half of their century was to see a more settled period that used good judgement and sound design principles. They had particular issues with the whole aspect of the use of three-dimensional style illusions used on flat surfaces.

Illustration: Wall tiling decoration of Qasr Radwan, Cairo, 17th century

One of the fundamental points of surface decoration and design is to understand and therefore appreciate the surface that is to be decorated. Textiles in particular need good judgement when working out pattern work. Although three dimensional illusions may appear to be acceptable within the framework of the history of decoration and particular that of Europe, in general they are ill suited to the medium. Flat and graphic style pattern work is much more sympathetic to a textile medium and can produce much more in the way of variation between simplicity and complexity, colour and tone, than can ever be achieved with the slim palette of realism.

Illustration: Wall tiling decoration of Qasr Radwan, Cairo, 17th century

British design reformers saw Islamic principles of decoration as a perfect format to be used within their own decorative arts system. Colour and form were to be placed above that of any type of realism, or false illusion as they preferred to term it. From this fundamental view of decoration, all pattern work it was hoped would eventually one day be based. Much of the decorative styling of the eighteenth century was either dismissed or treated as essentially flawed. Although this attitude and perspective on the decorative arts was by no means universal, it did take on an aspect that eventually proved to be amongst the building blocks of Modernism.

In some respects it could be said that there is a linkage, however tenuous, between Islamic decoration, the reform movements within Europe and the eventual Modernist stand that has shaped much of the world we live in today. Although the Modernist movement might well have arrived at and achieved its ultimate goal of form follows function, without Islam, it is interesting nonetheless to speculate whether the same result might have been delayed or have taken a tangential route even, without the timely example of Islamic decoration and the principles underlying that decorative work.

Illustration: Wall tiling decoration of the Mosque of Amir Shaykhu, Cairo, 18th century

Reference links:
Islamic Designs for Artists and Craftspeople (Dover Pictorial Archive)
The Majesty of Mughal Decoration: The Art and Architecture of Islamic India
Islamic Designs in Color (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Islamic architecture and its decoration, A.D. 800-1500;: A photographic survey
Nishapur: Some Early Islamic Buildings and Their Decoration/E0058P
Ornament and Decoration in Islamic Architecture
The Language of Pattern: An Enquiry Inspired by Islamic Decoration (Icon Editions)
Islamic Designs (International Design Library)
The Art of the Islamic Tile
Islamic Ornament
Islamic Designs for Cornice, Balcony and Mashrabiyah Decoration, from "Art and Industry" Giclee Poster Print by Jean Francois Albanis De Beaumont, 12x16
Islamic Design (Dover Pictura)
Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design
Pattern in Islamic Art
Arabic Geometrical Pattern and Design (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Ornament and Design of the Alhambra (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Geometric Patterns from Islamic Art & Architecture

Medieval Sicilian Textiles

Illustration: Sicilian Islamic themed woven brocade 12th century

Although the Islamic occupation of Sicily did not reach its final stage until 965, the influence of partial occupation and trade links with the larger Islamic world for the previous two centuries had an enormous influence on the crafts and culture of this Mediterranean island.

Sicily was well known for its textile production during the emirate period of its history. To be fair, most if not all of the textiles produced were largely Islamic in flavour and theme. However, Sicily had long been both a province of Byzantium and had maintained a sizeable Greek population. The culture of the eastern Greek empire was enmeshed into the local one, so that what textile work was produced had a combination of Byzantine and Islamic flavours, though of course it should be noted that the Islamic influence was always the strongest.

Illustration: Satellite map of Sicily

Sicilian Textiles not only found their way to different ports along the North African coast, but interestingly, much further north into Central Europe. They were well prized, expensive and even made their way into royal collections. It is interesting that although Christian Europe was technically in confrontation with Islam throughout this period, at a practical level trade and cultural exchange seemed relatively unhindered. It would be interesting to note how far Sicilian produced textiles, with their Islamic inscriptions and motifs, travelled into the heart of Christian Europe.

With the coming of the Normans to the island in about 1060, it added yet another element to the already confusing layers of Sicilian culture. Without going into the politics or religious aspects of the island's history in too great a detail, it is fair to say that the combination of cultures, although clashing ideologically, did produce some of the most beautiful textiles of the period. The border area of Islam which was to include all of the major islands in the Mediterranean from Crete to Mallorca, and of course modern Spain and Portugal, was a hot bed of innovation and creative thinking through a whole range of crafts from ceramics through to textiles.

Illustration: Spanish Islamic woven textile design 14th century

The illustrations shown in this article are all from the twelfth century and all from Sicily, bar one. The fourteenth century woven textile design above was placed here because for a long period this particular fabric was considered to be either Sicilian or Spanish. It couldn't really be decided in which region it had originated. It seems as though most experts are now happy to authenticate the design as being from Islamic Spain. However, although it is important to trace the origins of this particular piece, what is more important is that it also clearly represents a very similar style to the work produced in Sicily. It can be seen from this how extraordinarily expert was both the design and production of these European Islamic textiles.

Illustration: Sicilian Islamic themed woven brocade 12th century

It would be tempting, though inaccurate, to see Sicily with its Classical Greek and Roman routes, its layers of Byzantine, Islamic and Latin Christian cultures along with that of the Normans, as an ethnically and religiously tolerant oasis in the maelstrom of early medieval Europe. Although admittedly even long after Sicily became a province of the Normans, Arabic was still spoken as the court language and much of the Islamic institutions were kept in place, it proved only a matter of time before an intolerance of Islam, much harsher than that of the previous Islamic rulers, was set in place. Islam and all its external influences, including the decorative arts, were cleansed of much of the work that could be attributed to Islam. This spelt the end of a period of Sicilian textile history that had separated it, in style and influence, from the mainland of Italy and much of Europe. Later Sicilian textile work, although individual to the island to some extent, did tend to follow the fashions and themes set down by the mainland and the rest of Europe.

Illustration: Sicilian silk textile design 12th century

The loss of a connection between Sicily and North Africa was also a loss of connection between Europe and the Islamic arts. As European history developed any connections that did remain between the two cultures got narrower and more alien, until eventually the gulf between the two proved too difficult to bridge. However, these Sicilian Islamic themed textiles are still part of the European tradition of textile design and they were to play an interesting and important role in nineteenth century Britain in particular, where William Morris much admired the workmanship of these iconic designs.

Reference links:
History of Islamic Sicily (Islamic Surveys)
Arabic Administration in Norman Sicily: The Royal Diwan (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)
Siculo-Norman Art: Islamic Culture in Medieval Sicily (Islamic Art in the Mediterranean)
Al-Idrisi and Representations of the Medieval Muslim World: An entry from Gale's Science and Its Times

Bosnian Embroidery

Illustration: Traditional embroidery for a man's shirt

The history of Bosnia is one that represents a complex patchwork of cultures and religions. The decorative crafts, particularly those concerned with textiles, reflect that same diversity.  Embroidery has always been an important component of cultural identity, no more so than in the Balkans where shifting political boundaries have for centuries been largely irrelevant compared to those of the cultural variety. Bosnia may have sat uncomfortably within the sphere of empires and dominating cultural regions. However, it has managed to produce decorative work, which although influenced by those around it, does reflect the diversity within its borders.

Illustration: Traditional Bosnian Islamic costume

Embroidery in Bosnia can be crudely segregated into three distinctive styles. Urban centres were largely Turkish administrative points for the Turkish Empire and so were therefore mostly Islamic in makeup. The south and west of Bosnia had a stronger decorative affiliation and strong trade links with the Mediterranean and Italy in particular. The northern part of the region bordering the Austro Hungarian Empire was much more heavily influenced by the styles of Central Europe. Obviously these are generalizations and the complexities of Bosnian regional and specifically those of a highly localised variation, abounded.

Illustration: Traditional Bosnian Christian costume

As with many regions embroidery was often a domestic craft produced by women. Both Islamic and Christian families used embroidery extensively for festivals and particularly weddings. However, embroidery had a much wider scope than this and could be found as a decorative effect used domestically and as an addition to other textile crafts such as knit. Knitted socks with embroidered embellishment was a particular feature of the region, though not necessarily Bosnia specifically.

Although there are regional differences in pattern work throughout Bosnia and particularly within national costume, floral based decorative work was popular in both urban and rural areas. It can sometimes be confusing in trying to differentiate between the main decorative style in Bosnia, as for example both Islamic and Christian groups used floral motifs extensively, as did the two other main influences on the region Italy and Austria.

Illustration: Traditional Bosnian embroidered cap

Part of the problem with identifying the decorative origins of work produced in such diverse cultural areas as can be found in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, is that of the multi-layered effect of history and its influence. There are so many cultural layers of peoples, empires and religions that have influenced and guided the decorative effects of at least a certain proportion of embroidery work within the region, that it will always be difficult to disentangle those influences on the pattern work of the region. However, this does not mean that much of the embroidery work within Bosnia cannot be identified with a specific religion or ethnic background.

Recently due to the violent fragmentation of Yugoslavia, Bosnia has had to restructure itself along largely religious, rather than truly ethnic grounds. Catholic Bosnians have become associated with Croats in the west. Greek Orthodox Bosnians have become associated with Serbians in the east and north, while the largely urban Islamic Bosnians occupy the centre of the country.

Illustration: Traditional Bosnian embroidered cap

Because of this largely artificial division that did not really exist within the old Yugoslavia, Bosnians have had to redistribute themselves, often forcibly, to the regions that their religion identifies them with. This has largely broken up the traditional patchwork of cultural and craft traditions of the region, scattering those traditions across the country and beyond. However, those same traditions have managed to survive and in time may well flourish. New traditions are forming from the old as craftspeople from different backgrounds interact in the new divisions of Bosnia. This interaction will hopefully lead to new pathways for craft work in general and Bosnian embroidery specifically.

Reference links:
Peasant Art in Austria and Hungary
Embroidered Textiles: A World Guide to Traditional Patterns