Re-Used Props - Decoration
by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider
Decorative WindowsWall ArtSculptures
Many props and pieces of decoration in Star Trek were later modified or recycled without changes to represent items for a different purpose or of another civilization. Here are several examples of art, cult objects and decoration. Please take the following statements with a grain of salt and don't try to find explanations why identical artifacts are on display in distant corners of the galaxy.
Decorative Windows
Window in Riva's hall & in the Uxbridge house
The same window can be seen on Riva's home planet in TNG: "Loud as a Whisper" (with a rectangular frame) and in the Uxbridge house on Delta Rana IV in TNG: "The Survivors" (with a round frame).
Four-part window
The window in the guest quarters of the research station in TNG: "A Matter of Perspective" reappears on Qo'noS in "Sins of the Father".
Window on Rekag-Seronia & Arkaria
The Arkaria Base is full of familiar artifacts. Even the windows are not original. They are taken from the planet Rekag-Seronia (TNG: "Man of the People"). Annorax has the same window on his weapon ship.
On a different note, the statue on the left on Rekag-Seronia is not really of alien origin. It is a Buddhist statue known as Vidradhaka.
Yellow-red window
The Cardassians and Klingons share a predilection for colorful window glass. The same window can be seen in Enabran Tain's house in DS9: "The Wire" and in Grillka's house in DS9: "The House of Quark".
Round window
A window previously seen in the Vidiian lab in VOY: "Faces" reappears on the Cardassian probe "Dreadnought" in VOY: "Dreadnought", on the Akritirian prison satellite in VOY: "The Chute", on the Takarian planet in VOY: "False Profits" and on Tau's planet in VOY: "Concerning Flight", each time with differently colored glass panes.
Cardassian window
We can see a colorful Cardassian-style window (with the colors resembling those of the Cardassian emblem) aboard "Dreadnought" in VOY: "Dreadnought" and in the holodeck simulation of VOY: "Nothing Human". But the Mari in the Delta Quadrant are very fond of Cardassian style too (VOY: "Random Thoughts"), just not of the colors.
Colorful window
Another colorful window appears in "Star Trek Nemesis" as well as in ENT: "Exile".
Wall Art
Hexagonal plate
A hexagonal metallic checker plate that we know as a tray on the Enterprise in TOS: "Journey to Babel" and as a wall decoration in different places on Deep Space K-7 in "The Trouble with Tribbles" also shows up on the Romulan ship in "The Enterprise Incident", as well as on Elba II in "Whom Gods Destroy" and finally on Gideon in "The Mark of Gideon".
TOS shield
The same shield-like decoration adorns the walls in Mudd's throne room in TOS: "I, Mudd" and in Mr. Lurry's office in TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles".
Mural
The mural or wall relief featuring circles and lines, visible at one end of the Farpoint Station shopping mall, is later seen again in "Justice" in the Edo building and in "Loud as a Whisper" in Riva's hall on Ramatis III.
Wall fabric
A fabric that is first seen covering the ceiling lights on the Tarellian plague ship later appears on the walls of several Enterprise-D crew quarters, such as in "Lonely Among Us", "Home Soil", "Heart of Glory" and "The Neutral Zone".
Round relief
The ribbed round wall decoration seen in the Great Hall on Angel I in TNG: "Angel One" can be seen in later episodes as well. It first reappears on Qo'noS in "Redemption I+II", then on the Scimitar in "Star Trek Nemesis" and is finally seen in the corridor leading to the Xindi Council chambers in ENT: "The Council".
Relief tiles
Wall reliefs consisting of tiles with a quadratic pattern appear in Riva's house in TNG: "Loud as a Whisper" and are later seen again on Angosia in "The Hunted", on Kataan in "The Inner Light" and on Vulcan in "Gambit II".
Klingon "X"
An illuminated "X", either in red or in white, is a design element that often shows up in Klingon buildings in TNG episodes, like "Sins of the Father", "The Mind's Eye" or "Redemption I+II". It first appeared on Bre'el IV in "Déjà Q", however.
TNG shield
We can see shields on the shuttlebay walls of the Jovis in TNG: "The Most Toys" that are normally part of Klingon decorations. In real life, they may all be PH Hat sconces.
Eagle tapestry
A tapestry with an eagle depiction can be seen in TNG: "Brothers", TNG: "Firstborn" and, years later, in ENT: "Stigma".
Bird tapestry
Another tapestry featuring depictions of birds can be seen in Soong's lab in TNG: "Brothers". This tapestry is later seen in T'Pol's quarters aboard Enterprise NX-01 in "E²" and in T'Les's house on Vulcan in "Home". As can be seen in the screen caps from Enterprise, the smaller rectangular piece of cloth was integrated into a larger tapestry between "Brothers" and the third season of Enterprise.
Ventaxian tapestry
The Ventaxian homeworld in TNG: "Devil's Due" is decorated with swiveled quadratic shapes all over, including several tapestries with this characteristic pattern. Tapestries of Ventaxian origin reappear on the Mari homeworld in VOY: "Random Thoughts" and even on Romulus in TNG: "Unification". The Ventaxian pattern can also be seen on Vulcan tapestries in ENT: "The Andorian Incident" and "Stigma".
Malcorian "clock"
A Malcorian piece of art, looking slightly like a clock, is also seen in Spock's quarters aboard the USS Enterprise-A in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country".
"Wall clock"
A sculpture resembling a wall clock can be seen in TNG: "Unification I" on Romulus. The same decoration reappears on the Arkaria Base in TNG: "Starship Mine", in Mr. Mot's salon on the Enterprise-D in TNG: "Schisms" and on two other occasions on the Enterprise, in "Violations" and in a parallel universe in TNG: "Parallels". Later on the "clock" is also visible in VOY: "Ex Post Facto" and "Jetrel".
J'naii emblem
The J'naii emblem was designed by Rick Sternbach specifically for TNG: "The Outcast". It reappears in Deanna's quarters on the Romulan Warbird Khazara in TNG: "Face of the Enemy".
Oblong relief
The same relief can be seen on Banea in "Ex Post Facto" and later as a Krenim artifact on Kyana Prime in "Year of Hell II".
Mokra Order posters
Decorative (or propaganda?) posters from the homeworld of the Mokra order in the Delta Quadrant can be seen again on Rigel X in ENT: "Broken Bow".
Vulcan wall ornament
A shield-like relief can be seen in Tuvok's quarters in several episodes (such as VOY: "Meld") as well as on the Vulcan ship Vahklas in ENT: "Fusion" and in the Vulcan conference room in ENT: "Stigma". The same piece of decoration appears in ENT: "A Night in Sickbay" in the background of the Kreetassan official and on the wall at the place of Archer's strange lumberjack performance. Here the use of the shield suggests that it is not just decoration but an official Kreetassan emblem. The Vulcan script has been accordingly removed. We can see the shield one last time in the hallway of the Vulcan High Command in ENT: "Kir'Shara". The Vulcan inscription has not been restored but has been replaced with a blue light.
Irregularly shaped relief
B'Elanna has the same irregularly shaped relief in her quarters as the Krenim scientist Annorax on Kyana Prime.
Pentagonal relief
This relief first appears in Mila's house on Cardassia Prime in DS9: "What You Leave Behind" and later in T'Pol's quarters since ENT: "Fusion".
Morn's painting
It is quite common to re-use props although in their second appearance they are supposed to represent something very different. The opposite happens with the painting of a matador that Morn purchases in DS9: "In the Cards". It is shown again in DS9: "Who Mourns for Morn", but while the arrangement is essentially the same, the different details reveal that is has been repainted, perhaps from scratch because the old version was not available anymore.
Sculptures
Vulcan fire pit
The ring around the Vulcan fire pit in TOS: "Amok Time" reappears as some sort of altar for the "séance" in TOS: "Wolf in the Fold". The ring seems to have been repainted but has still the same alien script on it.
Irregular stele
Two irregularly shaped steles were originally created for "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" where they could be seen in the Federation Council Hall, painted silver in the movie. They reappeared on Deneb IV in TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint" (now in brown) and, after the TNG pilot episode, in "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier", standing in front of the Paradise Inn on Nimbus III.
Eagle statue
An eagle statue is visible in the background of Q's courtroom in TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint". The courtroom is somewhat different in TNG: "All Good Things" (it seems Q doesn't pay as much attention to details as Jörg ;-)), but the eagle statue is the same. It also appears in Karnas's command room in TNG: "Too Short a Season" (two of them) and in the bar on Qualor II in TNG: "Unification II".
Helix statue
A statue with a characteristic helix shape can be seen on Deneb IV in TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint" and on Angel I in TNG: "Angel One". Years later, the same prop shows up on Yadera II in the Gamma Quadrant as part of Rurigan's holographic illusion in DS9: "Shadowplay". On a funny note, the statue also appears in "Galaxy Quest".
Snail sculpture
The snail shell sculpture from TNG: "Haven" later appears in "Angel One" on the eponymous planet.
Disk statue
This statue, consisting of three disks on a curved stand, is another prop from TNG's first season that can be seen in several later episodes. It appears in TNG: "Haven", "The Schizoid Man", "The Survivors", in Data's quarters in "The Offspring" and in Odo's quarters in DS9: "The Abandoned".
Horn statue
The horn statue behind Crusher in TNG: "Lonely Among Us" was seen again in several later episodes. It appeared in Quark's quarters in "Melora" and was one of Nog's possessions he tried to sell before enrolling in Starfleet Academy in "Little Green Men". It was later seen in Martok's quarters on DS9 in "Once More Unto the Breach".
Head statue
This statue is composed of some round shapes on a stick, perhaps meant to roughly resemble a humanoid head. It can be seen for the first time on Rubicun III, the planet of the Edo, in TNG: "Justice". But the same statue also appears on the highly advanced planet Aldea too in TNG: "When the Bough Breaks", as well as in a woman's quarters on the Enterprise-D in TNG: "The Outrageous Okona", on Gravesworld in TNG: "The Schizoid Man" and later in Data's quarters in TNG: "The Measure of a Man", "The Offspring" and "Clues". Maybe Data inherited this statue and the disk statue from Dr. Graves? The Uxbridges have the same statue in TNG: "The Survivors" in their garden (where is can be seen side by side with the disk statue).
We can see the statue at least once in another Trek series, on the homeworld of the Mari, the notorious prop thieves (VOY: "Random Thoughts").
Meditation crystal
The Albeni meditation crystal from TNG: "Angel One" begins a new life (literally) as an alien embryonic lifeform in "Q-less".
Bird statue
A stylized bird statue can be seen in the simulation of the Klingon painstik ritual in TNG: "The Icarus Factor". The same statue later appears in Marla Aster's apartment in TNG: "The Bonding". She seems to have been fond of Klingon artwork. The bird, like many other familiar artifacts, can also be found on the Arkaria Base and on Ronara. Even Annorax seems to be fond of its timeless (pun alert!) design, just as he already liked the window (see above).
Cone/ball statue
The same sculpture of a red ball on a yellow cone is seen on Starbase 515 in TNG: "Samaritan Snare" and on Rutia IV in TNG: "The High Ground".
Basotile
The basotile in Fajo's collection in TNG: "The Most Toys" doesn't seem to be as rare as he thinks. The prop was also seen in Deep Space 9's assay office in "Necessary Evil", in the Symbiosis Commission building on the Trill homeworld in "Equilibrium" and even in Bahrat's office aboard the space station close to the Nekrit Expanse in "Fair Trade".
"Organ pipes"
The same (or very similar) wall decorations can be seen on many occasions. It appears in Starfleet Academy in TNG: "The First Duty", in Kamin's home on Kataan in TNG: "The Inner Light", in a bar on Torman V in TNG: "Chain of Command I" and in Rakal's quarters in TNG: "Face of the Enemy". Furthermore, it can be seen several times in Voyager's first and second season: twice on the unnamed planet in "Time and Again", on Banea in "Ex Post Facto", on the Sikarian ship in "Prime Factors" and on the Kazon planet in "Alliances".
Humanoid statue
A stylized humanoid figure could be seen on Kataan in TNG: "The Inner Light", as well as on the unnamed "Polaric Power Planet" in VOY: "Time and Again".
This statue is actually anything but modern art but a replica of an ancient statue from the Cyclades (2800-2300 B.C.).
Angel statue
Enina Tandro in DS9: "Dax" and the Intendant of the Mirror Universe have the same angel statue.
Decorative fire bowl
A fire bowl on a decorative post can be seen in various episodes, on Vulcan, Klingon and other planets.
Window emblem
An emblem in a shop window on the Barkonian homeworld in TNG: "Thine Own Self" is re-used as some sort of mobile to cheer up Neelix while he has to rest in the isotropic restraint in VOY: "The Phage".
Statue with bells
A statue with bells much like a Turkish crescent could be seen as a Klingon object but was apparently deemed alien enough to appear on Vulcan as well. But the first documented appearance is on the Sikarian homeworld in VOY: "Prime Factors".
Dragon head candleholder
A candleholder shaped like a dragon head appears in the Nekrit Supply Depot, but can also be seen on the Klingon ship in VOY: "Prophecy".
Lattice tower sculpture
The same lattice sculpture can be seen in Marayna's control room in VOY: "Alter Ego" and in the Vori camp in VOY: "Nemesis".
See Also
Re-Used Props - Furniture - tables, chairs, lamps, other furniture
Re-Used Props - Various Objects - musical instruments, tableware and vases
Galleries - Various Objects - art, bottles, containers, holograms, etc.
Credits
Some screen caps from TrekCore and TrekCaps. Thanks go to AJ Halliwell for pointing us to the Vulcan wall decoration and the eagle tapestry and to Alexander Baier, Brant Day @Twitter, Ciarán D, Jan Kockrow, Lin Jingqiu, Marçal, Shawn Havery and Michael Minnick for spotting some more of the props.
