THE ARAB CHEST *

This Book is the first exhaustive study of a piece of domestic furniture that has been used in the Arab world for hundreds of years, and on the East African coast since the early 19th century. The Arab chest caught the attention of expatriates and travellers throughout these regions, and by the mid-20th century it had become a collector's item in the West. The book is also the story of a quest. The author, Sheila Unwin, first came across the chests in East Africa in the early 1950s, since when she has been fired with a determination to discover their provenance and unravel their stylistic origins. This journey of detection is reflected in her historical overviews, which cover the early Arab trading networks, Arabs and Persians in East Africa and the Gulf, the Mughals in India, the rise and fall of the Zanzibari Sultanate, the importance of Muscat and Oman as a major force in the Indian Ocean, and the early explorations and trading expeditions of the European powers - Portuguese, Dutch and British - from East Africa to India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and even China. The author's study of these has enabled her to trace the cultural influences that have combined to produce the chests as we know them today, and to chart their complex origins. More than a historical survey, the book is also a guide to the classification, care and cleaning of chests. It is lavishly illustrated with archive and contemporary photographs and maps, while detailed line drawings demonstrate the differences in classification and type of chests and fittings. Owners of these fine pieces will find this an invaluable companion and resource. Sheila Unwin greatly enriches our appreciation of an artefact which, while often unregarded in the past, can now be seen in the light of her research as a fascinating embodiment of the old Indian Ocean trading network.