ABSTRACT
Woodwork is considered by some not to have been carried to a very high degree of proficiency in the Islamic world. Yet the mosques and palaces of Cairo and the houses of Jedda and Suakin contain woodwork of a very high quality despite the lack of good timber in the countries concerned. Added to this there is the long Arab tradition of boat-building. The craftsmen of Islamic countries excelled even in this material, but in Suakin it remained a mainly external, rugged and large-scale craft. The absence of wooden furniture in the domestic life of the wealthy except for mashrabiyas, panelled doors and small occasional tables or kursis meant that cabinet-work, as we know it in the West, was seldom needed. Woodwork was not therefore carried to the pitch of refinement of Sheraton or Hepplewhite except in great cities like Cairo.
