About The Museum Of Islamic Ceramics
Egypt has many museums, and due to its long, diverse history, the land of the Nile enjoys an enormous collection of items and exhibits gathered from different periods. During the last century, the Egyptian government built many fascinating museums to house these beautiful items, attracting tourists' attention worldwide.
The Museum of Islamic Ceramics in Cairo's Zamalek neighborhood mainly consists of six sections displaying exhibitions from six styles popular in Egypt during different periods of Islamic history. Each section has its character and magic, and visiting the museum is quite attractive for anyone fond of the art of ceramics in particular and Egyptian history in general.
Arabs and Muslims have always been distinguished in traditional pottery production. Since the early days of Islam, and even before the appearance of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, Arabs have used pottery to produce many items for diverse uses.
The idea behind establishing a museum to exhibit Islamic ceramics as a component of the Gezira Arts Center in Zamalek was due to several factors and reasons. Egypt has one of the most ancient civilizations in the world, and the art of ceramics has always been associated with different periods of Egyptian history. Therefore, there had to be a place to host this rich, extensive collection of ceramics from Egypt and other neighboring countries.
Location Of The Museum
The museum occupies the first two floors of Amir Amr Ibrahim Palace in Zamalek, a small neighborhood near downtown Cairo. Constructed in the 1940s, the palace is distinguished by its marvelous architectural and decorative styles, which is a beautiful mixture of European classical styles with Moroccan, Andalusian, and Turkish influences, a type of art that was quite popular during the ruling period of the family of Mohamed Ali.
The palace consists mainly of large, vast halls and galleries, all surrounding the main lobby with the attractive fountain coated with colored marble in the middle and the grand dome above. Featured with its wonderful tinted glass windows, the palace of Prince Amr Ibrahim is a magnificent contemporary monument. The Amir Amr Ibrahim Palace also features wonderfully crafted and ornamented walls and ceilings with many different decorations, calligraphy, and lovely Arabian-style decorations.
The Fatimid Section Of The Museum
The Fatimid section of the Museum of Islamic Ceramics is one of the most remarkable in the museum and hosts the oldest and most valuable displays. Situated to the right-hand side of the main entrance to the museum, this hall has a rectangular shape with three large Mashrabeya windows decorated with Arabic and Turkish Calligraphy, wonderfully white, blue, and red Ottoman tiles, and many plant-shaped Arabian-style decorations. In the hall's center is a dining table made of marble, which was initially among the palace's furniture. It is now used to display 19 items from the museum consisting of 16 plates and three pots with different sizes, shapes, and decorations. However, all of them were made during the Fatimid period between the 10th and 12th Centuries.
Two marble tables are on the left and right side of the entrance to the Fatimid section, displaying many exciting items, including oil bottles, small flowerpots, and some pottery royal seals from the Ottoman period. Other tables in this section display wooden windows, which host famous traditional pottery jars (the Egyptian Ola), pots, bottles, and many other exciting items created during the Fatimid reign in Egypt. There are 72 distinctive displays in total.
Ottoman Section Of The Museum
Like the Fatimid section, the Ottoman section has a rectangularly shaped hall featuring large Mashrabeya screen windows, the famous red, white, and blue Turkish-style tiles on the walls, and some remarkable gypsum decorations. On the left-hand side of the entrance to the section, there is a marvelous traditional fireplace decorated with Ottoman tiles with wonderful Arabic letters calligraphy, and the floor of this hall is coated with marble tiles with geometric shapes; a large square surrounded by eight smaller squares blended in marvelous harmony. The Ottoman section hosts 12 glass display places and more than 100 items that date back to the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The displays include plates, dishes, bowls, pitchers, cups, pots, mugs, and decorated tiles with many unique various styles of decoration.
Egyptian Section Of The Museum
This section, intersected with the Ottoman section, displays items manufactured in Egypt during different stages of Islamic history: the Umayyad, the Ayoubid, the Mamluk, and the Ottoman periods. This section has six display glasses with over 40 items of different sizes and various usages. The items in this section are featured with simple yet charming ornaments and colors, with calligraphy, geometric, animal, and plant outlines of decorations.
This museum section also hosts some displays in the Turkish and Persian styles, characterized by plant trappings. These displays include flowerpots, pitchers, and bowls. Among the most distinguished collections in this section is this Parisian-style pitcher, which has an animal's head, a royal style common among Mohamed Ali's family.
Lobby Of The Museum
Situated at the museum entrance, the lobby is located at the heart of the palace. It is featured with its incredible fountain and notable marble and gypsum decorations. Above the palace lobby is a unique Mamluk-style dome that consists of a square shape, with each side richly decorated with colored glass. A large copper chandelier gives this section a unique ambiance. The lobby hosts several displays made in Syria during the 12th and 13th centuries, including pitchers, pots, cups, and different bowls, which are very interesting to the visitors entering the museum for the first time.
Second Floor Of The Museum
An internal staircase leads the visitor from the lobby of the palace to the upper floor, which overlooks the entrance and some other sections of the museum. This was the (Haramlek) of the palace or the area specified for the house owners to feel comfortable. This section is dedicated to Persian displays, including many pitchers, plates, dishes, and bowls, all with this shining aspect as if they were made of metals. The decorations are various as some follow the common animal and plant outline of decorations while others are much more sophisticated in their ornaments and coloring.
Section Of The Prince
This section is one of the components of the museum's second floor. It has an outer chamber, a middle room, and a bathroom. The outer chamber has the shape of a square with a wooden wall that is decorated with a mother of pearl. Situated on the left-hand side of the room, there is a small, wonderful fountain coated with marble all over and several ornamented bookshelves. All of these items are among the original furniture and belongings of Amir Amr Ibrahim. This room hosts only five displays. The first is a plate made in Morocco during the 18th century. The other four are different items made in Syria during the 12th century. The middle room, or the prince's hall, is featured with its baroque and rococo decoration styles blended with the Turkish and Islamic outlines, which were dominated in Egypt during the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The prince's hall has marvelous furniture, including a wooden sofa and a mother-of-pearl decorated wooden box used to store the prince's jewelry and valuables.