Arabic Calligraphy as Decoration

Illustration: Silk brocade design, 13th or 14th century.

Arabic script seems to lend itself perfectly to a decorative format, more so than perhaps other world scripts. It has been used very effectively as an integral part of a decorative framework, but also as a singular motif, an abstracted form of decoration whereby the script is used in its entirety without any other partner, such as pattern or architectural detail. Although other cultures have used their own form of script within a decorative format, they perhaps have not been as successful as that of Arabic and certainly not as clearly identified with the culture as has this particular script with Islam.

One of the common misrepresentations of Islamic culture and through that its decoration, is the one whereby it is said that Islam forbids human specifically, or indeed representation in any form. While this is true in a religious format, iconography being firmly frowned on, representation outside of a religious context has often been used, whether that be in architecture, painting, textiles, wood, metal, glass or ceramic. It was a common mistake of the Victorians who firmly believed that pattern and script were commonly used in both religious and non-religious work because of the strict rule regarding non-representation. Therefore, many of those who produced publications dealing with Islamic culture were keen to stress the tight restraints that Islamic designers had to work under. Owen Jones often stressed that Islamic designers and decorators had had to find a specific route towards decoration because of the restraints of Islam.

Illustration: Decoration from Mohammad ben Qalaoun Mosque.

Although decoration within the Islamic culture has much more variety and depth than perhaps we are often led to believe, the religious aspect of life always has a tendency to bleed into the secular and therefore there has been a tendency in Islamic decoration to at least limit the amount of representational figurative work portrayed, particularly when concerned with human imagery. It could easily be assumed that in many respects these rules, whether strictly or lightly enforced, would hamper the decorative life of the Islamic culture, but in many respects it has both broadened and invigorated the decorative arts, taking abstract pattern and calligraphy to new heights of sophistication.

The few examples shown in this article give a broad spectrum of the way that calligraphy for example was used in decoration. Architectural examples are shown in the main whereby Arabic calligraphy has been integrated, mainly through panels, into architectural details. In many respects the calligraphy examples sit within the context of surrounding panels of geometrically sourced pattern work, or they balance the pattern work by forming borders for example. The same is true of the textile example which is the first illustration shown. In fact there seems very little obvious differences between the architectural and textile examples giving an indication that decoration in the Islamic world tends towards, if not a universality then at least an element of integrated diversity and creative adaptability that is at home across most disciplines.

Illustration: Various Arabic script decorative panels from Sicily.

Although to some extent Arabic calligraphy in the context of decoration has been stylised, sometimes to such an extent that perhaps it is not immediately recognisable, this does not deny the fact that the script itself lends itself to be seen as a decorative format in its own right. The flowing curved lines that are so much a part of written Arabic have none of the severe angularity of the Latin script for example, on which most modern European alphabets are based. Although the Latin alphabet has been used extensively within a decorative format, particularly in architecture, it very often has to stand alone and is rarely integrated into pattern as effectively as Arabic. 

Illustrtation: Decorative panel from a Cairo Mosque.

Interestingly, and perhaps unintentionally tying in with the idea of Arabic script as a natural decorative format, when Islamic decoration was commonly copied and reused by largely Christian populations in medieval Europe, the integrated Arabic script was also reused and reinterpreted. Many in Europe could not speak or read Arabic; this became more so the further north you travelled from North Africa, Spain and the Mediterranean. Where Arabic was not a common language there was no real incentive to interpret panels of Arabic calligraphy as literal. Therefore, many interesting decorative developments of Arabic were used in Europe, interpreting the script as either nonsensical squiggles, or more cunningly as another form of Islamic abstract pattern work. This was used fairly extensively within a textile format as Islamic textiles were particularly sought after in medieval Europe and were often a form of status and wealth. Where originals could not be procured, copies were used instead, and this is often where the Arabic script either got confused, misinterpreted or creatively re-imagined.

Whether Arabic script was used as in a religious format, a secular one, part of a decorative partnership with pattern, or on its own, it served the real purpose of integrating a written language into decoration. This has never been a particularly easy format to master and many cultures have found difficulty in producing an effective working structure that can be used as universally as Arabic script has. That Islam makes it appear deceptively easy is perhaps part of the charm of the script itself and certainly of the many generations of decorative artists that have worked in stone, metal, glass, ceramic, wood and textiles to produce this lasting and easily identified cultural format that works right across the Islamic world and in many ways acts as a unifying identity for the entire culture.

Illustration: Decorative panel.

This is not to say that if Arabic script had had an entirely different format it would not still, because of some of the religious strictures of Islam, have been used just as widely in decoration as the present form of Arabic. However, the unique form of Arabic script has lent itself to a decorative interpretation that has been influenced by its often organic-seeming structure and this must surely have influenced its intentional integration into Islamic decoration and allowed it to flourish as an easy and harmonious partner to pattern and decoration.

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The Influence of Persian Decorative Creativity

Illustration: Persian manuscript page.

The influence of Islamic decoration on the decorative arts of Europe has been both fundamental and long-standing. From the early medieval period onwards the influence on European surface pattern in particular, has been an important element both as an inspiration and as a developmental tool. The interaction between southern Europe and North Africa for example, proved to be creatively inspiring, producing an inter-locking cultural mix of Islamic, Classical and Christian motifs and pattern work that was to produce some of the most important developments in textile pattern work.

By the nineteenth century one of the main areas of intrigue and fascination for Europeans involved in the decorative arts was that of Persia, modern day Iran. The history of the decorative arts in Islamic Persia was considered by many Europeans to be of fundamental importance, with highly sophisticated decorative work that could do nothing but be inspirational to designers in Europe. The extension of the Persian culture into Northern India through the Moghul Empire had proved to be particularly inspirational to the British who came into direct contact with the cultural heritage through their assimilation of India. It was this combination of Persian and Northern Indian decorative work that proved to be so inspirational to a number of British designers.

Illustration: Indo-Persian manuscript border designs.

Decorative pattern work in Islam came in many forms and tended to be spread across most of the decorative art disciplines. It was therefore used on an inspirational level within European industries that supplied the growing interiors market. Ceramics and textiles proved to be particular beneficiaries in the latter half of the nineteenth century with both disciplines producing a formidable amount of work, both obvious and subtle, with Britain being particularly susceptible to the style.

Islamic decoration tends to be perceived as following two main themes geometric and floral, and while this is true to a certain extent, there is a complexity to the culture, one that has incorporated a number of different regional and cultural themes, that makes this too simplistic, but sometimes useful when dealing with the larger themes of pattern work. Interestingly, of the two perceived themes, the British in the nineteenth century tended more towards the floral than the geometrical, despite the persistent persuasion of such critics as Owen Jones who saw the fundamental and varied building blocks of the geometrical as a perfect vocabulary for an endless complexity of pattern.   

 Illustration: Persian manuscript page.

All of the illustrations shown in this article are facsimiles of historical Persian manuscripts that were reproduced for a European audience to both marvel at and see as being potentially inspirational. In some respects, they were produced as an historical and cultural evaluation of Persia, but they were also an obvious portfolio of possible decorative techniques for use in contemporary European pattern work. The percentage of active inspiration depended on both the individual designer and the company involved. William Morris for example, was both intrigued and inspired by Persian and Moghul decorative qualities and techniques, but did not actively copy any of the results that he came across in his research. However, his surface pattern work in both printed textiles and carpet design did use some of the general techniques that could be found in Persian floral decoration. It is sometimes not always the direct approach to observational inspiration that is the most useful; often it is the slow and almost sub-conscious result that proves to be the most rewarding. However, others were more aware of the direct allure of what was termed as the 'Orient' and its potential for profits, and therefore a much closer observational inspiration was chosen.

Whichever path proved to be the most profitable, the creative or material, or even a combination of both, Persian and Moghul elements seeped into the decorative format of nineteenth century British decoration. So much so that the imported style can be seen as being an intrinsic part of many of the formats and disciplines that made up the decorative arts, from textiles to ceramics, and from illustration to metalwork. Some of the decorative inspiration is practically and blatantly obvious as in the output of Liberty for example, while some is much less so and forms a foundational level, as in the case of Morris and Co. 

 Illustration: Persian manuscript page.

However, no matter what the level of inspiration, it is fascinating to evaluate the influences and cultural overlaps that are always such a part of the history of decoration. It is intriguing to see the historical possibilities that may have been produced between the creativity of two different cultures in different parts of the world. The creative connections formed by Britain from that of Iran, many of which were not necessarily consciously achieved, show how important this form of cultural fermentation has been in the development of the decorative arts in general and in that of Britain specifically, an island that has always had a natural tendency to absorb decorative formats, embellish even transform them and then redirect them for both domestic and external markets. It is this form of creativity that perhaps lies at the heart of Britain's nineteenth century relationship with both Iran and its Moghul extension in British India.

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