The mashrabiyya, a wooden screen, shows a variation of the window design, with small openings that are rectangular rather than horseshoe arch shaped. Through these openings the onlooker could observe the world outside without being noticed.
Credit: Gift of S.S. HFowland, 1910
15th-16th century
Wood; turned
11.86.8
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019
Where you'll find this
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection