EGYPT, FIRST QUARTER 14TH CENTURY

These inscription panels are carved with an unusual combination of elements. The alternation of calligraphic elongated hexagonal panels with floral cusped octafoils is rare to find. Such an alternation of forms is taken directly from earlier Fatimid Egyptian carved panels such as a series containing figural depictions probably originally from the Western Palace of al-Qahira (Trésors fatimides du Caire, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1998, pp.88-89). The continuation of this Fatimid arrangement in the Mamluk period is particularly interesting with regard to those specific panels since they were re-used in the interior of the maristan of Qala'un. The comparison is particularly close in that those panels, like ours, have a curling leaf extending into the hexagonal compartment from the intervening floral area. They are also carved between similar but not identical floral border designs.

The calligraphy is similar to that on two Mamluk inscription panels, again within narrow floral borders, that are thought to come from the mosque of the amir Qusun dating from 1329 AD (David-Weill, Jean: Catalogue du musée arabe du Caire, Les Bois à epigraphes, epoques Mamlouke et Ottomane, Vol.II, Cairo, 1936, pls.IV and V). The Qusun panels also alternate koranic calligraphy with smaller panels, and, as here, have the occasional free-floating knotted motif filling a gap in the inscription. The re-use of the Fatimid panels in the Qala'un structure in the late 13th century and the similarities of the calligraphy and layout with the Qusun panels enable a relatively tight date to be placed on these panels.