Illustration: Mosque mosaic wall decoration, Cairo.
The simplicity and effortlessness of Islamic geometric design can sometimes appear to be lost in the overall finished effect which often gives the impression of being much more complex, even mathematically so, than it really is. Most pattern work, across different cultures and eras, tends to be made up of simple grids, motifs and repeatable shapes, colours and lines. Often they can become infinitely repeatable, as in the four Islamic examples shown in this article.
During the mid-nineteenth century a number of critics and professional designers from Britain, placed a specific emphasis on Islamic pattern work, particularly in its relationship to surface pattern of which the Islamic world was deemed particularly expert. In this respect, such reformers as Owen Jones saw the potential that geometrically organised surface pattern could have on British products such as textiles, which included printed and woven as well as carpet manufacturing, wallpaper and ceramic tile and mosaic design, all of which used the flat surface as its medium.
Illustration: Mosque mosaic wall decoration, Cairo.
Although the problems of British manufacturing during this period were recognised by most critics as in need of at least a focused approach to design and decoration, if not a complete overhaul, not all were convinced that an understanding of Islamic pattern work was the solution. Some saw Islam through the eyes of European Imperialism whereby the culture was objectified as a colonial one rather than that of an equal. Much of the Islamic world was to be at one point or another under occupation by more than one European power up until the mid-twentieth century. Others saw Islam as external and therefore not having roots connected to the European culture. These individuals saw the medieval as being a more correct and fitting decorative style to use than that of Islam. That Islamic decorative influence runs through European medieval styles, sometimes heavily, was not admitted.
The complexity through simplicity angle of Islamic decorative geometrical pattern work, must have been of particular interest to the British decorative arts industry which needed to mass produce seemingly sophisticated work but with the minimum of initial outlay. That the processes that went towards making, also had to be limited, was always part of the mechanised process.
Illustration: Mosque mosaic wall decoration, Cairo.
By using Islamic geometrical pattern as a template for British surface pattern production, this did not mean that the Islamic style was to be repeated per se. Although there was a certain amount of copying of pattern work from the region, particularly within the disciplines of carpet weaving and ceramics, on the whole what was taken from Islamic surface pattern was the obvious idea of geometry as a fitting subject for pattern work. However, perhaps more importantly, was the idea that surface pattern did not have to imitate the illusional work usually associated with fine art. In fact, surface pattern could be seen as a discipline in its own right, with its own rules and its own vocabulary.
By reproducing realistic flower arrangements, architectural features and romantic landscapes, decorative pattern work was, in some ways at least, creating a dependency, making itself subservient to fine art. By following, or at least positively examining the purpose and practical originality that lay behind so much Islamic surface pattern work, British critics were trying to lend the same distinctiveness to their own country's surface pattern work.
Illustration: Mosque mosaic wall decoration, Cairo.
Although seemingly unconnected, much has been incorporated from understanding the fundamentals of Islamic surface pattern, and although other factors also had a bearing on the future of British surface pattern work, the influence of an obvious system for working within a flat medium cannot be underestimated.
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