Mosaic jewelry boxes have increasingly become popular this past year, and from the looks of it, 2007 is going to see this unique art-form even more popular. My ancestors have perfected hand-crafting these amazing decorative items in the oldest continually inhabited city on earth, Damascus, Syria. Whatever "political" status this country has in your mind, please set that aside as art has no political borders. Today I want to talk about the steps in hand-crafting a simple mosaic box.

Step 1:

Different kinds of coloured wood (Rosewood, Lemon Wood, Walnut, Peach Wood to name a few) are cut in very small geometric shapes, as per the design. Of course the main type of wood that is usually used is Walnut, but a lot of craftsmen use Cedar wood (found abundantly in Lebanon). This process takes hours, maybe days depending on the complexity of the design and the size.

Step 2:

After the beautiful wood pieces are cut, they are glued together using special Arabic glue, forming one bigger wood piece.

Step 3:

If the box has mother of pearl pieces in it, these pieces are cut very carefully (this can take hours for a few pieces), and again glued to the wooden pieces, where they should fit perfectly.

Step 4:

All these pieces are glued together to the solid wooden jewelry box (this is usually walnut, and is the base of the box).

Step 5:

This step is where real craftsmen skills are tested. Here the box is polished, but not just normal polishing. The box has to be polished very slowly and carefully so as not to scratch or chip any of the carefully cut and crafted pieces that were put together in the previous steps. The polish has to look magnificent, giving a shiny and smooth feel.
Well I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will keep you posted on different techniques for different wooden jewelry boxes, as well as other popular oriental artwork.

Thanks for reading,

John Hakim