DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.53064#0037
31
When this motive appeared first, it was not a decora-
tive one at all. In Asiatic countries people do not sit on
chairs, but squat on the floor. Carpets and mats take the
place of chairs and tables used in western countries, and
small niches in the wall serve the purpose of cupboards.
Niches for this purpose occur already in the 9th century
A. D. in Samara but the custom is considerably older. In
Samara were already placed into them precious Chinese
vessels to adorn the rooms. It seems that the custom
became more common during the next centuries, but unfor-
tunately we do not know enough about domestic architecture
to follow the history. When Shah Abbas the Great built the
Chini Khana at Ardebil, as a part of a religious foundation
near the tomb of his holy ancestor Sheikh Safi, he arranged
niches of different size and forms so that they covered the
upper part of the walls arranged like ornaments and leaving
no visible wall. Placed into them were precious vases,
produced in China which was then under the Ming dynasty.
This ornamental arrangement remained the decoration of
the private houses almost until to-day in Iran and Turan.
But there it never became that arrangement of flat false
niches which is nothing but a frame work, and was so
popular in Shah Jahan’s time. Akbar’s red sandstone palace
in Agra fort possesses only in some rooms deep niches in
which books and vessels were kept. The turning point
seems to be again the time of Shah Jahangir. We know that
he was a real lover of Chinese vessels as was Shah Abbas I,
the ruler of Persia, his contemporary. William Hawkins who
was in Agra between 1608 and 1611 tells us1 that one of his
Indian friends was put in charge of one especially precious
China dish which unfortunately was broken during a travel.
The man was very severely flogged and then sent to China
to find the same dish again. He could not find it there but
at last discovered another sample in the possession of Shah
Abbas who kindly handed it over to him. I give the story
so broadly because it is extremely interesting for the relation
between India, China and Persia in the time of Jahangir.
False niches in this time are usually filled with the picture
of a vase. It was Jahangir who built in his later years the
Suraj Bhan-Ka-Bagh. Here are already the enormous
spaces of the great recesses covered with flat false niches
which certainly were filled with vases by simply painting
them, And real as well as false niches remained the most
outstanding features in Shah Abbas’ wall decoration. His
1. William Foster, Early travels in India, Oxford. 1921 pg. 109,
When this motive appeared first, it was not a decora-
tive one at all. In Asiatic countries people do not sit on
chairs, but squat on the floor. Carpets and mats take the
place of chairs and tables used in western countries, and
small niches in the wall serve the purpose of cupboards.
Niches for this purpose occur already in the 9th century
A. D. in Samara but the custom is considerably older. In
Samara were already placed into them precious Chinese
vessels to adorn the rooms. It seems that the custom
became more common during the next centuries, but unfor-
tunately we do not know enough about domestic architecture
to follow the history. When Shah Abbas the Great built the
Chini Khana at Ardebil, as a part of a religious foundation
near the tomb of his holy ancestor Sheikh Safi, he arranged
niches of different size and forms so that they covered the
upper part of the walls arranged like ornaments and leaving
no visible wall. Placed into them were precious vases,
produced in China which was then under the Ming dynasty.
This ornamental arrangement remained the decoration of
the private houses almost until to-day in Iran and Turan.
But there it never became that arrangement of flat false
niches which is nothing but a frame work, and was so
popular in Shah Jahan’s time. Akbar’s red sandstone palace
in Agra fort possesses only in some rooms deep niches in
which books and vessels were kept. The turning point
seems to be again the time of Shah Jahangir. We know that
he was a real lover of Chinese vessels as was Shah Abbas I,
the ruler of Persia, his contemporary. William Hawkins who
was in Agra between 1608 and 1611 tells us1 that one of his
Indian friends was put in charge of one especially precious
China dish which unfortunately was broken during a travel.
The man was very severely flogged and then sent to China
to find the same dish again. He could not find it there but
at last discovered another sample in the possession of Shah
Abbas who kindly handed it over to him. I give the story
so broadly because it is extremely interesting for the relation
between India, China and Persia in the time of Jahangir.
False niches in this time are usually filled with the picture
of a vase. It was Jahangir who built in his later years the
Suraj Bhan-Ka-Bagh. Here are already the enormous
spaces of the great recesses covered with flat false niches
which certainly were filled with vases by simply painting
them, And real as well as false niches remained the most
outstanding features in Shah Abbas’ wall decoration. His
1. William Foster, Early travels in India, Oxford. 1921 pg. 109,