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Lot Essay
This gaming board is securely datable to the second half of the 15th century on the basis of evidence provided by a very similar gaming board sold at Sotheby's, 24 October 2007, lot 158. Exposed areas of the wooden frame of that board revealed scraps of medieval parchment that were used as underlay to improve the adhesion of the mosaic. This parchment was vellum with traces of verses from a psalter which were printed. Printing was only used on parchment for a brief window in the second half of the fifteenth century, thus provides us with conclusive dating evidence.
The taracea technique of inlaying was used in decoration throughout Spain and North Africa and was said to decorate the no longer extant minbar of the Great Mosque of Cordoba on its enlargement under al-Hakim II in AH 366/976 AD. That is described as being inlaid with red and yellow sandalwood, ebony, ivory and Indian aloewood (Heather Ecker, Caliphs and Kings. The Art and Influence of Islamic Spain, Washington D.C., 2005, p.162). Caliphal marquetry workshops continued to execute court commissions under the Almoravids and the Almohads and contributed to the splendor of the minbars in the Qarawiyyin mosque in Fez and those of the Kutubiyya and the Qasba mosques in Marrakech (Jerrilynn D. Dodds, Al-Andalus. The Art of Islamic Spain., exhibition catalogue, New York, 1992, pp. 372-373). The eight-pointed stellar motif formed of two interlocking squares is a distinctive motif of Nasrid woodwork, and is seen not only here but also in the decoration of the following two lots. Anther example of Nasird woodwork, similarly decorated can be seen on a pair of cabinet doors from the Palacio de los Infantes, Granada now in the Museo Nacional de Arte Hispanomusulman in Granada (Jerrilynn D. Dodds (ed.), Al-Andalus. The Art of Islamic Spain, New York, 1992, p.373, no.118) or on a non-folding gaming board in the Museo de la Alhambra (R.E.3968, Arte Islamico en Granada, exhibition catalogue, Granada, 1995, p. 427, no.181).
For a brief discussion on the game of chess in the Iberian peninsula, the form of this board and recent comparables on the market, please see the following lot.
The taracea technique of inlaying was used in decoration throughout Spain and North Africa and was said to decorate the no longer extant minbar of the Great Mosque of Cordoba on its enlargement under al-Hakim II in AH 366/976 AD. That is described as being inlaid with red and yellow sandalwood, ebony, ivory and Indian aloewood (Heather Ecker, Caliphs and Kings. The Art and Influence of Islamic Spain, Washington D.C., 2005, p.162). Caliphal marquetry workshops continued to execute court commissions under the Almoravids and the Almohads and contributed to the splendor of the minbars in the Qarawiyyin mosque in Fez and those of the Kutubiyya and the Qasba mosques in Marrakech (Jerrilynn D. Dodds, Al-Andalus. The Art of Islamic Spain., exhibition catalogue, New York, 1992, pp. 372-373). The eight-pointed stellar motif formed of two interlocking squares is a distinctive motif of Nasrid woodwork, and is seen not only here but also in the decoration of the following two lots. Anther example of Nasird woodwork, similarly decorated can be seen on a pair of cabinet doors from the Palacio de los Infantes, Granada now in the Museo Nacional de Arte Hispanomusulman in Granada (Jerrilynn D. Dodds (ed.), Al-Andalus. The Art of Islamic Spain, New York, 1992, p.373, no.118) or on a non-folding gaming board in the Museo de la Alhambra (R.E.3968, Arte Islamico en Granada, exhibition catalogue, Granada, 1995, p. 427, no.181).
For a brief discussion on the game of chess in the Iberian peninsula, the form of this board and recent comparables on the market, please see the following lot.