Architectural Ceiling Panels

Light through a square of oyster shell comes in pearly and soft. Antique ceiling panels come from China, India, Morocco and Indonesia, most from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Chinese elm panels are carved in lattice, floral lattice and octagonal medallions, and some show the Eight Immortals of Taoist legend; others are set with thin squares of oyster shell, once used in place of glass. Moroccan cedar panels carry geometric medallions and matching mihrab arches, and carved Indian teak brings dense floral work. From the Toraja of Sulawesi come lumbung or rice-house wall panels, incised and painted in red, black and ochre.

Built to be seen from below, these panels have depth and shadow that read well at eye level too. Hung flat on a dining room wall, suspended above a table or set into a ceiling coffer, they bring old craftsmanship and a pattern of light and dark into a room. Look up, then look closer.