It’s a pity that we have almost no information about the ornament; except for its picture, we also came across two tiny details – that we dealt with an ornamental mosaic made of tiles of various colors, and that the book was issued by the Afghan Boundary Commission. The above Commission was formed in the late 19th century by the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom, with the task to determine the borders of Afghanistan. Since Afghanistan and all surrounding countries, even a large part of India, had been influenced by Islam, we assume that this ornamental mosaic also falls under the Islamic style of decoration, which certainly can’t be far from the truth. Probably some Commission members were delighted with the art they came up against in their work, feeling inspired to draw ornamental mosaics that they liked so much and publish this short book. Thanks to them, you are now offered a digitized, very beautiful arc-shaped floral ornament, which is more than a hundred years old!
