Blue Mosque Dubai

Finally found a moment to visit the Blue Mosque or the Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque as it is actually named.  There is not much out there in the way of information on tours so we took a chance one morning and were thrilled to be shown round.  I tried to obtain more information from the guide but I don't think it is set in stone like the Sheikh Zayed Mosque tours.  I suggest 10-10.30 am is a good time to go there although when we finished at around 11.30 the guide took a group of French tourists round just before mid day prayer.  Although I prefer that type of architecture I think the tour itself is not as informative as the one at Sheikh Zayed Mosque, that may be because tours are a relatively new thing.  Guests will be lent abayas and khandouras if needed. There is an art to wearing the veil which I have still not mastered, next time I will bring hair clips to keep it in place. 

When you live in Dubai and when, in my case, you are married to a muslim you learn the basics of Islam quite quickly and so I would prefer to move up a class and learn something new but I suppose it has to remain basic for the tourists and those who know nothing of Islam.   

Not much was said of the benefactors of the Mosque, in this case funded by businessman Khalef Al Habtoor, read more here and here 

I feel it is so important to remember that it is only with the grand ideas and gestures of such individuals that heritage is born.  Here or anywhere else in the world.

Centre dome and Mihrab at the back

Centre ceiling

Ceiling

Intricate hand cut glazed mosaic work

The mosque is certainly beautiful, in particular I love the white and blue of its outside. It is inspired by 17th century Sultan Ahmed Mosque aka Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The doors we were told are bronze, I am not entirely certain of this but the design itself is charming.  There are lots of beautiful details of Ottoman and Andalusian influence.  The plasterwork was produced, on site, by a team of 60 skilled crafstmen from Fez, Morocco.

Like all mosques there is a wonderful sense of calm inside and around the grounds, a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of Dubai.

Bronze door

Snob: Sans Noblesse Part 2

Been far too long without complaining, I am French after all and that is what we do best apart from food, wine, Chateaux, beautiful Parterres,  the cool beaches, the even cooler mountain resorts, and pretty nice frocks, bags and shoes.  

 

Now it would appear that the economy in the UK is doing really well when a British fabric company shows total disinterest in 7000 metres of fabric orders.

Of course there is no point chasing that same company for 800 metres because they tell you they are too busy and short staffed.  Which then tells me that unemployment in Britain must down to zero, what a fantastic job those chauffeur driven men in suits are doing, how wonderful.

All the better then for a French, Italian, and Spanish firm to get the business instead.

p.s: they are very grateful.

For that same company, Colefax & Fowler, where I spent in all 10 years of employment and where I thought I had made a few friends to not even give me the courtesy of a call back is I think 

Sans Noblesse.

Lesson learned for the next project.

Billy Baldwin & Mogador

Still very much in the Manganese and purple phase.  Perhaps because I am finishing a project with lots of purple I want different shades of it everywhere from plum to purpley brown and reddy brown.  Now, there are fabrics I consider the Mozart and Debussy of materials and Mogador from Lelievre is definitely one of them.  It is probably 50 or 60 years old if not more, it used to be called Velour Gascogne and notoriously unreliable in dye lots and yet that never deterred anyone to use it.  It is now very reliable and rarely is a scheme complete without this treasure of a velvet, here it is in the Henne colourway which will soon cover another classic: the Billy Baldwin slipper chair.  A favourite of this Iconic american decorator, often immitated by other decorators, with varying degrees of success.  

I have a near perfect one I treasure and use as a template for clients.

 

 

 

Mogador Henne

Billy Baldwin and his slipper chair, image from House Beautiful

Dragon Muck

I promised myself I would not go back to Dragon Mart the first time I visited there and I broke that promise today.  Two reasons, first I need some really cheap bamboo blinds, the simple kind, no frills just bamboo blinds, secondly I like to double check when I suspect other people are talking crap.  You see everyone raves on about Dragon Mart, you can find anything and everything they say.  Yes you can, anything fake, cheap, vulgar, badly made and probably toxic.

Don't get me wrong it is the perfect place for downlighters, sinks, loos, pipes, screws and washers and if you look hard, very hard maybe a mao costume.  You will not however find a repro emperor chair or lacquered wedding chest, pretty chinese lanterns, chinatown bowls and chop sticks, or anything charmingly chinese nor will you find bog standard bamboo blinds.

Above images from www.easterncurio.com and definitely not available at Dragon Muck

Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas

Let's face it Christmas is not a desert thing is it?  Christmas is mountains and skiing for me. 

Having said that Paris does do Christmas very well

In haste, because it wouldn't be Christmas without a little panic, here is my pick of the more charming and sometimes unusual Christmas decorations around

Fortnum and Mason

Crate and Barrel

Pantone from jonnycampbell.com

Crate and Barrel

The White Company (sold out of course!)

Tiffany

 And of course let's not forget the crackers

Asprey

I always buy a few new ones every year, my favourite purchase of 2011, surprisingly, is from Debenhams, who would have guessed it?!

Christmas cheer to one and all!!

Shipping Container Hermes Style

Researching converted shipping containers at the moment.  Of course no one does it in quite as much style and seemingly effortlessly as Hermes.  Even the finish of the 'Hermes Orange' paint looks beautifully applied.

The mobile Hermes Silk Bar was in place for a Fall 2009-2010 promotion in Hong Kong showcasing their latest scarf designs, not so much a sales venture but  beautifully executed marketing complete with healthy drink concoctions and DJ's