A RARE FATIMID CARVED WOODEN PANEL of rectangular form, the edges bevelled on the reverse, the obverse carved with an angular design of scrolling vine around two confronted birds with large raised tails, in a meandering leafy border with outer plain stripe, circa 11th century (slight warping and partially repaired cracks)

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A RARE FATIMID CARVED WOODEN PANEL of rectangular form, the edges bevelled on the reverse, the obverse carved with an angular design of scrolling vine around two confronted birds with large raised tails, in a meandering leafy border with outer plain stripe, circa 11th century (slight warping and partially repaired cracks)
7 1/8 x 11in. (18.2 x 28cm.)

Lot Essay

The decorative motif of confronted birds is well-known in Egypt during the Fatimid and earlier periods, appearing also in textiles (L'Islam dans les collections nationales, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1977, no.194, p.110). While the carving here appears somewhat crude, it is very close in feel to a number of ivory panels of this epoch (Islamic Art in Egypt, 969-1517, exhibition catalogue, Cairo 1969, no.32, p.42 and pl.4(a) being a classic example). A very similar composition in wood, with equally angular but somewhat deeper carving is in the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin (Jenkins, M., 'An Eleventh-Century Woodcarving from a Cairo Nunnery, in Ettinghausen, R. (ed.): Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1972, pl.10, p.231)

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