Oman and Zanzibar Virtual Museum

Very rare pair of  carved wooden sandals for Omani towns-women made of rosewood with silver toe-pins and bells so you could timely hear the lady approaching. Nowadays wooden shoes  are associated with the Turkish bath, however originally these shoes were also worn in the Harem and even on the street, we have several 19th century photos on the website to confirm this.

For almost identical shoes see the photo of Bibi Salme (in the slide-show) in her memoirs of an Arabian princess. 

 Omani princess Emily Ruete with almost identical wooden shoes

Height 7 cm (excluding silver pin) Length 26 cm.  Some "magic" moon / star symbols  have been punctured in the surface of the shoe. See picture Ingrams Ref 4 page 463 for similar magic symbols to protect against evil spirits.

Emily Ruete writes in her Memoirs of an Arabian Princess 1886 about the sounds in the  harem of the palace she grew up : "Children of the most diverse ages were running, quarrelling and fighting in every corner. In between resounding loud summons and clapping hands, which in the Orient is the equivalent of ringing a bell for the servants. Add to this the rattle of the women's wooden sandals, the kabakib (singular kubah), five to ten cm high and often adorned with silver or gold" These wooden shoes were typically only worn at home.

Two very rare Omani silver toe-pins for wooden sandals (without bells) and without the shoes. The toe-pins were sold as kohl-pots in the Nizwa souq. Height 5 cm.

In the slide-show we have added a photo of a pair of antique Omani wooden sandals with similar silver toe pins. These sandals are discussed in more detail   in the "wood" section.

Antique Omani silver toe-pins for Omani wooden shoes

Very rare complete Omani wedding chest named Mandoos / Mandus in the Bombay style. There is however no evidence that a Bombay chest was made in Bombay.... Made of some sort of red teak-wood. (very heavy) Signs of wear by ropes around the chest, in the book Alarms and Excursions (London edition) you can see on a photo a similar chest being transported by a camel.

Antique Omani wooden chest  named Mandoos

 In an earlier article this chest was classified as a Surat type chest. Our chest complies fully with the description of a Bombay chest Type 1 (page 83/84) in the book of Sheila Unwin (Ref 1) :

• Wood: Teak (very heavy and pretty)
• Size (lid) 107 by 48 cm and 49 cm high
• Sheeting (not very thick) perforated and punched
• Studs and knobs: Handmade, small -headed, with short square shafts. Knobs on the front and on the lid
• Lid: similar to Surat chest with square corner mounts with arrow like groups of studs pointing inwards. Central studding lobed
• Hinges: Bombay style finials with 5 spikes above a cutout cross. Looks like an abstract palm-tree
• Hasp: Elaborate Bombay style hasp with intricate cut-work
• Handles: on the side C-shaped hung from sockets on a cast phoenix backplate
• Drawer: Three drawers.One drawer with a Shiraz handle, one with a Rococo handle and one handle missing
• Secret compartment beneath internal till. In the secret compartment a Maria Theresia Thaler and a few pieces of silver were found!

Our chest is identical to that shown in the top photo on page 83 of Unwin´s The Arab Chest (Ref 1) . These chests are very rare to find in good condition. Pearce in his book on Zanzibar 1920  Ref 9 p 226 writes: The Eastern does not believe in banks. If he has spare cash he prefers to keep it in a strong wooden chest in his house, where he knows it will be guarded by his trusty ancestral blade. These boxes are known to Europeans as Zanzibar chests.The more ornamental and smaller are favorite purchases. They are still used by Arabs in their houses and the brass studded chests are favored by Arab ladies for the safekeeping of their treasures and jewels. Some of these boxes possess a secret compartment. In purchasing a chest the following points are worthy of attention: The lid should be without join, the brass sheet should be thick. and the devices cut thereon should be well-defined patterns: In most genuine chests the remains of a gold colored tinsel will be seen underlying the brass decorations. More brass bosses there are the better; the lock hasp should be as elaborate as possible and the perforations should form a definite pattern" Note the guidance in Sheila Unwin´s book is probably better.

Brass hasp of the above Omani chest

Rare Omani wedding Chest named Mandoos / Mandus in the  Malabar style.  There is no evidence that a Malabar chest was made in Malabar. These are the only chests that are carved.

Antique Omani carved wooden chest (Malabar Chest)

Our chest without stand / drawers is very similar to that shown in The Arab Chest (Ref 1) on page 85. For details see page 88:

• Wood: Rosewood
• Size: (lid) 95 by 45 cm  and 42 cm high
• Brass: Slightly thick plates/inlays.
• Front carved with very fine (!)  flower and fruit symbols. Brass inlays. One lock. No fleur de lys finials.
• Hasp: Simple and  similar to that for the small Bombay chest. Normally not present on this type of chest.   Behind the hasp is a lock.
• Back and sides beautifully carved with detailed geometric patterns.
• Reinforcing straps Perforated on the front and plain on the back.
• Lid four  corner-mounts elongated with fleur de lys finials pointing inwards. Central oval disks sparsely arranged horizontally. Moldings on edges are attached to the undersides and the join strengthened with quatre-foils. separated by vertical brass strips. On our lid some of the inlays are very worn and or missing.
• Hinges heavy and thick having a bulbous finial with cut-outs terminating in a fleur de lis.
• No secret compartment. Drawers in the stand (not here)
• Handles: shallow W shape carried on cups attached to qua trefoil disks.
• One compartment inside

The carved fruit can be "breadfruit", or "Durian" or "Pine-apple", but breadfruit most likely. Note that the Breadfruit tree is native to Malabar as well as to East Africa. Malabar chests in southern Oman tend to be made from teak wood and not very old. Malabar Chests with such fine woodcarving are rare.  See the slide-show for an example of woodwork on the traditional Omani dhow.

Side of the Chest

Unusual  Omani Chest named Mandus possibly in  the Shisam or Makran style  see The Arab Chest by Sheila Unwin  (Ref 1):

• Wood: Teak or Shisham
• Size: Size (lid) 37 cm by 81 cm and  40 cm high
• Reinforcement straps: Functional and made of thick quality brass
• Studs: very large and hand made! no Knobs.
• Front: two circular mounts and the hasp superimposed on a large triangular group of studding.
• Hasp: Similar to the Shiraz /Surat  like style and fits over a staple on a plate.
• Hinges Similar to the   Shirz / Surat style 
• Handles: Simple iron or steel C-shaped
• Secret compartment: no secret compartment. However two tills present.

This chest  was difficult to fit into a particular category. 

1. The large handmade studs are very unusual. 
2. The matching hinges, hasp and corner pieces  all made of very thick brass and with dot in circle designs seem to be very old.
3. The design of the hinges and hasp are  closest to the Shiraz and Surat  styles.
4. The curved design of the lower wooden part of the chest (fretted base)  reminds of the Shisham or Makran style.

Front of the chest

Hinges of the chest

Side of the chest

Two rare examples of antique locks and keys used for an Omani Mandoos ( Omani chest) . Made of steel and with brass decoration including flower / vine engraving. Very rare to find good examples.

Antique lock for an Omani chest

Rare type of Omani cash-box. Cash-box is the name given to Arab chests less than 60 cm long, fitted with an internal framework containing small individual compartments. Cash boxes are derived from western writing boxes. Sometimes they are also called pearl chests. Silver nails and lock-plate have been sued.  Larger Omani chests with silver studs do exist, but are exceptionally rare.

Summarizing: small writing or cash box with traditional Omani geometric designs:

• Wood: Rosewood
• Front: Geometric decoration probably burned into the wood (=pyro engraving) plus silver plate with floral designs around the lock hole.
• Top: Same design as the front but without the silver plate but with a brass handle.
• Silver studs on front and on the top
• Brass hinges (without spikes)
• Size 35 by 16,5 and 9 cm high

 For similar technique of burning geometrical pyro engraved designs into the wood see powder boxes/tubes HvWO 119.

Rare (finely worked) Omani wooden camel saddle. Carved with geometrical patterns. The circular patterns  are also found as decoration on the barrels of Omani matchlocks (Abu Fathilah) of the 17th century see ref 4 page 147. Very high quality.  Measures 22 cm high 26 cm wide

Very rare finely carved Omani wooden shoe made  of rosewood the, however the toe-pin is missing.  Has nice palm-tree designs. The shape is different as the shoe plateau has a horizontal "bar" with triangle  engraving. While the previous set of shoes has three wooden triangles under the middle pf the plateau to give extra strength. Nowadays they are associated with the Turkish bath, however originally these shoes were also worn in the Harem and even on the street. Length 27 cm. 

Scarce Omani cash-box. Cash-box is the name given to Arab chests less than 60 cm long, fitted with an internal framework containing small individual compartments. Cash boxes are derived from western writing boxes.  Sometimes they are also called pearl chests. The eye motif  in the shape of a flower is highly unusual on a cash-box but it is very common on Omani dhows! See ref 4 page 47 for same symbol on a dhow! Cash or Writing box with:

• Wood: Probably teak 
•  Rose design in a circle on top. Fine similar design on old Omani ships (see book Seafarers of the Gulf p 47 "eye in the shape of a flower" ) and Omani doors.
• Western style hinges
• Contents of box  identical to the box shown in Arab Chests by Unwin on the bottom right on page 101
• Size 47 cm  by 28 cm and 18 cm high.

Very rare wooden jar in the shape of a classical 18th century Chinese vase. Made from yellow rosewood.

Striped decoration originally red yellow and green bands similar to antique Mandus supports (used in Oman) that may originate from the Omani colony Gujarat.  Height 10 cm.

However coloured wood utensils were also made and used in Oman and neighbouring countries. Omani chests when used for weddings were also sometimes painted bright red. Ref 2 discusses several coloured wooden objects collected by the famous Arabist Snouck Hurgronje in Mecca.

Very rare wooden lock with wooden key. (Rare to find with such fine old  dot in circle decoration and patina) Nicely carved and according to the patina on the wood  very old.  Purpose:  Typically to lock a door. Height 15 cm.  Ref 3 Oppenheim on page 250 contains a picture " Arabische Holzschlosser mit Schlussel"  of a similar (but undecorated) wooden lock from Iraq. This type of lock was used throughout the Middle East, but the decoration points more towards Oman or maybe Yemen.

Scarce antique wooden bowl / measure. According to Richardson ref 1 it is a measure. Made of palm-wood or rosewood?  Measures 10 cm high and 11 cm diameter with a very thick bottom.

Omani wooden Measure bowl

Rare antique wooden game board from Oman or Zanzibar. The wood is probably from a bread-tree (like many Omani doors) The back of the wooden board has seriously been eaten by termite.  Size 80 by 33 cm.

For detailed description including game rules see Ref 1 Ingrams 1931 page 256-258. In Zanzibar the game is called Bao. It is a game played on a board having four rows of eight holes in it with the grey seeds of a shrub that grows on the seashore. Every player has 32 seeds. There are three forms: Kiswahili and two kinds of Kiarabu. Kiswahili is complicated.  The game probably originated from Arabia (Oman) In Oman in its most basic form it is played by making holes in the sand and using camel droppings as game pieces (see Carter ref 2)  The shape of the wooden board is also similar to the Arab school writing board, the top compartment is only used for storage of gaming  seeds.

Front of antique Bao / Macula  board from Oman / Zanzibar

Back of antique Bao board from Oman / Zanzibar damaged by insects

This handmade wooden comb measures 22 cm by by 9 cm. No modern tools were used to make this tool. However with these type of items it is difficult to determine its age. The size, shape and design is similar to a comb from Zanzibar in the collection of the Afrika museum in Berg and Dal Netherlands.

 The book Topsy Turvy land Arabia pictured for children 1902 contains a nice illustration of woodworking tools used in Oman / Bahrain.