NORTH INDIA OR AFGHANISTAN, 16TH/17TH CENTURY

The cusped palemette motif elegantly carved into this panel is typical of Mughal architectural ornamentation. This floral form can be found most noticeably as rows of finials adorning walls and monuments, for example see Mughal Emperor Akbar's tomb in Sikandra (Margaret Prosser Allen, Ornament in Indian Architecture, London, 1991, fig. 448). The use of terracotta though is something more traditionally associated with Afghanistan rather than the Mughal heartland of North India. For earlier carved terracotta panels attributed to Afghanistan which sold in these Rooms see 26 April 2012 lots 88- 90.