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  • BJHC
    • Dec 12, 2017
    • 1 min read

The Ursi (winter parlor)

Updated: Oct 26, 2021

On a three-legged base is a round vessel with a lid with a button handle in the center. On the body of the vessel are hand hammered technique decorations of flowers, leaves and stems, with two scenes depicted: A pair of men in an Assyrian costume, in the center a man with an animal head and a third figure on the side; Two figures of guards (?), Holding poles, a third figure of a man carrying an object. On the lid there are plant ornaments combined with birds.
A vessel for sugar, Persia, the first half of the 20th century, silver in a hand hammered technique. Donation by the late Eliyahu Noga and Moshe.

The ursi (winter parlor), called by the Jews from Iraq also jamkhana, was the most stately part of a classic Jewish house in Baghdad. The front section of the ursi, was designed out of glass and wooden windows wall that incorporated luxurious decorations featuring a variety of geometric and floral shapes, some studded with pieces of colored glasses. This exhibition is a small-scale reconstruction, which shows the blend between traditional and contemporary, and between east and west.