PROBABLY SYRIA, 12TH/13TH CENTURY

Details

AN AYYUBID CARVED WOODEN BEAM
PROBABLY SYRIA, 12TH/13TH CENTURY
Probably from the end of a cenotaph, the central long panel carved with very elegant scrolling arabesques terminating in palmettes behind a fleshy elegant naskh inscription, various attachment holes in the undecorated sections at each end, repaired split, slight damages
4½ x 48in. (11.2 x 122cm.)

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Lot Essay

The inscription consists of Qur'an, sura al-baqara (II), parts of v.255

The quality of the carving on this beam is very fine indeed. The contrast between the very fleshy nashkh inscription and the very finely worked background scrolls gives a very good counterpoint. A similar effect can be seen in three panels from a double door now in the David Collection Copenhagen (Kjeld von Folsach, Art from the World of Islam in the David Collection, Copenhagen, 2001, no.429), although the script in the Danish example is considerably more elongated, closer to thuluth.

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