Ceiling of the Damascus Room

The Damascus Room’s ceiling is comprised of mid-to-late eighteenth-century ‘ajami paneling in a carpet pattern (a rectangular central field is surrounded by a series of borders). At the center is a large gilded finial, and the surrounding flat surfaces include large rosettes similar to those found in Persian tilework of the medieval and early modern periods. Like the walls of the Damascus Room, the ceiling was retrofitted by the al-Khayyat workshop of Damascus in 1953–54. In some cases, entirely new panels were required (consider one of the large red cartouches and several thin white panels).