Information about the Building
Having sold Charlottenfels Castle, the family residence in Neuhausen, in 1889, Moser bought it back in 1906. He dedicated himself to expanding, classifying, and displaying his collection of Islamic art and as a result decided to install a private museum at ground-floor level. The design for the displays was the work of the Parisian architect Henri Saladin (1851–1923), who was also in charge of designing an Arab-style smoking room, the so-called fumoir arabe, in one of the exhibition halls. Work on the … More
Having sold Charlottenfels Castle, the family residence in Neuhausen, in 1889, Moser bought it back in 1906. He dedicated himself to expanding, classifying, and displaying his collection of Islamic art and as a result decided to install a private museum at ground-floor level. The design for the displays was the work of the Parisian architect Henri Saladin (1851–1923), who was also in charge of designing an Arab-style smoking room, the so-called fumoir arabe, in one of the exhibition halls. Work on the fumoir was to begin on 4 January 1907, and construction of the fumoir lasted until 1909. In 1914, Moser donated his collection and the fumoir to the Bernisches Historisches Museum.
The fumoir is composed of both original pieces of furniture from different Islamic regions and contemporary replicas. On one wall, a large replica of a stucco and glass window (IG_64), made by the Parisian glass-painter Auguste Bruin ([1872]–[1908]) in the Western stained-glass technique, is set above a mashrabiyya thought to be of North African origin.* After the transfer of the *fumoir to Bern, a glass dome was added in the centre of the wooden ceiling to replace the original wooden dome designed by Saladin.
LessLiterature
Giese F., & Varela Braga, A. (2019). Translocating Metropolitan Display Strategies in 19th-century Europe: Frederick Stibbert, Henri Moser and their Orientalist Style Rooms, in International Journal of Islamic Architecture, 8(1), 115–40. https://doi.org/10.1386/ijia.8.1.115_1
Giese, F. (2019). “Orientalisierende Fumoirs in der Schweiz. Islamische Architekturzitate zwischen Nachahmung, Abguss und Assemblage”, in: F. Giese, L. el-Wakil, & A. Varela Braga (eds.), Der Orient in der Schweiz / L’Orient en Suisse… More
Giese F., & Varela Braga, A. (2019). Translocating Metropolitan Display Strategies in 19th-century Europe: Frederick Stibbert, Henri Moser and their Orientalist Style Rooms, in International Journal of Islamic Architecture, 8(1), 115–40. https://doi.org/10.1386/ijia.8.1.115_1
Giese, F. (2019). “Orientalisierende Fumoirs in der Schweiz. Islamische Architekturzitate zwischen Nachahmung, Abguss und Assemblage”, in: F. Giese, L. el-Wakil, & A. Varela Braga (eds.), Der Orient in der Schweiz / L’Orient en Suisse. Neo-islamische Architektur und Interieurs im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (Welten des Islams, 10) (pp. 59-84). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, Berlin.
Giese, F. (2016). “From Style Room to Period Room : Henri Moser’s fumoir in Charlottenfels Castle”. In S. Costa, D. Poulot, & M. Volait, (eds.). The Period Rooms: Allestimenti storici tra arte, collezionismo e museologia (pp. 153–60). Bologna : Bononia University Press.
Keller, S. (2020). “De véritables merveilles d’exécution”. Les vitraux du fumoir arabe d’Henri Moser. In Giese, F., Volait, M. & Varela Braga, A. (eds.). À l’orientale. Collecting, Displaying and Appropriating Islamic Art and Architecture in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (pp. 28–38). Leiden/Boston: Brill.
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