"SAUDI ARABIA" Line (1)

Oval medallions decorating the tea-pot and sugar bowl from this china set show Forbidden Mosque (Al-Haram Mosque) and the Mosque of Prophet Muhammad.

The Forbidden Mosque is the holiest site in the world for Muslims. In its central courtyard there is the first house built for the worship of God – the sacred Kaaba, towards which every Moslem in the world turns at the time of prayer. The Kaaba houses in its eastern corner the Black Stone, the most venerated object for Muslims. Some hold that it fell from the sky during the time of Adam and Eve, and that it has the power to cleanse worshippers of their sins by absorbing them into itself. They say that the Black Stone was once a pure and dazzling white and it has turned black because of the humanity’s sins it has absorbed over the years.

The Prophet’s Mosque, one of the holiest sites of the Islam, was founded by the Prophet Muhammad in Medina in 622 next to the Prophet’s house and later served as a model for the design of other mosques. Since those times, the Mosque had been renovated and expanded several times, acquiring new naves, domes, and minarets. As a result, it is now about a hundred times its original side due to the ever increasing inflow of pilgrims and tourists attracted by the shrine containing the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad. The medallion shows the general view of the newly reconstructed mosque against the background of the evening sky.

Besides medallions that are decorated with images of mosques all the rest items of the set are decorated with arabesques formed by intricately interwoven white shoots of plants against olive background. They are elegant as an exquisite sample of Arabic script. The arabesques are especially attractive in their combination with the platinum décor emphasizing the ornamental festivity of the set.

This collection is produced in a limited number of copies (500 sets).