.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The column may originally have belonged to a sabil and has many features which can be found in religious buildings of the Burji Mamluks (1396-1517 AD) in Cairo. The octagonal column is common in minarets and mihrabs of the period and some of these are carved with variegated patterns.
The chevron pattern of the upper register in our column is a reminder of the zigzag decoration of stone domes between 1396 and 1415 (C. Kessler, The Carved Masonry Domes of Medieval Cairo, Art and Archaeology Research Papers, London, 1976, p.18 and pls.17-22) and was also used in the octagonal storeys of minarets (cf. the Mosque of Mu'ayyad, 1415-20, in L. Hautcoeur and G. Wiet, Les Mosques du Caire, Paris, 1976, pl.176). It is also found as the decoration on the four supporting columns of the canopy in the mausoleum of Barquq (1400-20 AD) (Hautcoeur and Wiet, op.cit., pl.157).
The beautiful floral scroll running around the middle of the column can be seen on the borders of the stairway of the minbar as well as on the border of the lower arch imposts in the mausoleum of Barquq where the stalk or stem has the same indented form (Hautcoeur and Wiet, op.cit., pl.157). Similar relief carved vegetal decoration is found on some of the domes of Cairo (Kessler, op.cit., pls.33, 34 and 38).
Finally the motif of the tall slender arches on the lower half of our column can be seen in the mosque of al-Mu'ayyad where it is rendered in inlaid marbles and forms a dado in the semi-circular apse of the mihrab (Hautcoeur and Wiet: op.cit., pl.172).
The chevron pattern of the upper register in our column is a reminder of the zigzag decoration of stone domes between 1396 and 1415 (C. Kessler, The Carved Masonry Domes of Medieval Cairo, Art and Archaeology Research Papers, London, 1976, p.18 and pls.17-22) and was also used in the octagonal storeys of minarets (cf. the Mosque of Mu'ayyad, 1415-20, in L. Hautcoeur and G. Wiet, Les Mosques du Caire, Paris, 1976, pl.176). It is also found as the decoration on the four supporting columns of the canopy in the mausoleum of Barquq (1400-20 AD) (Hautcoeur and Wiet, op.cit., pl.157).
The beautiful floral scroll running around the middle of the column can be seen on the borders of the stairway of the minbar as well as on the border of the lower arch imposts in the mausoleum of Barquq where the stalk or stem has the same indented form (Hautcoeur and Wiet, op.cit., pl.157). Similar relief carved vegetal decoration is found on some of the domes of Cairo (Kessler, op.cit., pls.33, 34 and 38).
Finally the motif of the tall slender arches on the lower half of our column can be seen in the mosque of al-Mu'ayyad where it is rendered in inlaid marbles and forms a dado in the semi-circular apse of the mihrab (Hautcoeur and Wiet: op.cit., pl.172).