n the 1960s, when Doris Duke was in her 50s, she transformed the Dining Room, which was originally Hawaiian in inspiration. She described the room’s original decor:
I used marine life as the decorative motif: tanks for the brilliant fish that abound in these waters are built into one wall, and a shell collection isdisplayed in a second. The other two sides overlook the ocean.
The appearance of the new Dining Room was completely different; the room now draws upon Islamic forms, like the rest of Shangri La. The large windows with their sweeping ocean and Diamond Head views were retained, but the tanks and shell collection were replaced with a large, mosaic tile panel, an ornate Baccarat chandelier and a fireplace.
Duke furnished the renovated Dining Room with Egyptian and Indian appliqued textiles on top of a blue-stripe, woven fabric to produce the effect of an elaborate tent. The room evokes those Islamic cultures that favor a nomadic lifestyle, and use portable architectural structures such as cloth tents instead of permanent buildings made of stone or brick.
The 19th-century Egyptian appliques dominate the Dining room and significantly contribute to its dynamic design scheme. Featured prominantly on all the panels but one are calligraphic inscriptions from the Quran, the sacred text of Islam. Calligraphy is the most highly-regarded of all Islamic arts and examples from numerous time periods and regions of the Islamic world can be found within the Shangri La collection.
Listen to a recitation of the Quranic inscription on one of the appliqued textiles and an English translation.
Calligraphy in Islamic art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Calligraphy on objects in the Shangri La collection
Tents: Lady of the Builders, a scholarly article from Mimar: Architecture in Development magazine from ARCHnetShamiana: The Mughal Tent at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Preservation Project a report on efforts to preserve the Dining Room