light-coloured or golden paint

Ingredients

golden paint, light-coloured paint

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The inscriptions were executed calligraphically using light-coloured or golden paint. These were applied within cartouches displayed on dark wooden bands on the cornices of rooms or affixed to walls just above adult eye level (p. 132). In some instances, similar inscriptions were inlaid in doors using a cluster of materials (p. 136).

Evidence

"All, except the few displayed in the wooden lattices of mashrabiyya windows, or rendered in carved marble or plaster, were written with light-coloured or golden paint within cartouches displayed on dark wooden bands on the cornices or affixed to walls just above adult eye level, following the contours of each room’s floorplan."

Remarks

Inscriptions were located in public spaces such as reception halls (qāʿāt), maqāʿid, and takhtabūsh (p. 132). Qurʾanic verses were typically rendered in monumental thuluth script, while non-Qurʾanic poetry like the Burda often used muḥaqqaq or nastaʿlīq (p. 132-134). Footnote 59 on page 143 notes that some areas had been restored, making original composition difficult to judge in certain locations.