Mu'ashak (معشّق) is a Damascene craft in which tiny pieces of mother-of-pearl are cut by hand and set one beside the next to form the surface. Two small boxes from the Al-Halabi family workshop show it up close.
What is mu'ashak?
The word describes work where a surface is built from many small pieces, each one cut by hand and set beside its neighbor until the whole is complete. In mu'ashak work, those pieces are mother-of-pearl. It is slow, close work, and the surface catches the light differently as you turn the piece.
What are the Mu'ashak Treasure Box and Keepsake Box?
Both are small square boxes with a pyramid lid, made by hand in Damascus by the Al-Halabi family workshop. The Treasure Box is covered in green mother-of-pearl with a flower inlay, over a beechwood core. The Keepsake Box has a white mother-of-pearl lid with a dark and wooden flower inlay. Each box measures 7 × 7 × 5.5 cm (2.8 × 2.8 × 2.2 in) outside and 4 × 4 × 4.5 cm (1.6 × 1.6 × 1.8 in) inside. The Treasure Box weighs 150 g (5.3 oz) and is one of a kind.
What is inside a Mu'ashak box?
The inside is lined with brocade. In our photograph the open Treasure Box shows the lined base with two rings resting beside the lid.
How is mu'ashak different from Damascene mosaic?
Damascene mosaic is built from small pieces of different woods and mother-of-pearl, cut and set into a pattern. You can read how that works in our guide to Damascene mosaic, and about the materials in the woods and pearl behind every piece. In mu'ashak work, mother-of-pearl itself forms the surface of these boxes.
You can see both boxes in our Masterpiece Boxes collection. Each piece is made by hand in small numbers, so what is available changes.