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Lot Essay
Marquetry mosaic (khatamkar) consists of minute polygons of wood, ivory and metal. The polygonal elements, known as beads, are formed into rods which are glued together and then sliced. The technique is said to have been practiced in the 14th century and by the Safavid period, the craft was certainly well established in Isfahan and Shiraz (L. Honarfa, "Woodwork, khatamkar", in J. Gluck, A Survey of Persian Handicrafts, Tehran, 1977).
A few pieces from the 15th century have inlay work which relates to that on the present door, although it has not yet achieved the finesse seen here. In particular the work used here in the squares containing the name 'Ali is very close to decorative details from the 15th century such as the border of the cover of the famous carved wooden casket made for Ulugh Beg which employs exactly this technique, using ivory and ebony in square tesserae (Thomas W. Lentz and Glenn D. Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, Los Angeles, 1989, no.49, p.142). Two doors from the Gur-i Mir in Samarqand which can be dated to around 1405 AD also appear to use a very similar idea for the decoration of lozenge panels around which the wooden ground is carved (Arthur Upham Pope, A Survey of Persian Art, Oxford, 1938, pl.1470). Though the geometry is more complex than the Ulugh Beg casket, the individual pieces are still not nearly as small as those used in the present door. In its outer border of chevrons the Gur-i Mir door also presages the present example.
The technique appears to be one which the Safavid craftsmen refined and made far finer in detail. A small number of doors which are comparable to the present one have survived. A very close example was purchased by the David Collection (Kjeld von Folsach, Art from the World of Islam in the David Collection, Copenhagen, 1991, no.448, p.280, dated there to the 17th century). The work in the individual panels there is identical to that found here; the geometry of the interlace is however different and the door is slightly larger overall. Comparable examples are found in many of the most important shrines endowed by the Safavids, including those in Qum, Mashhad and that of Shaykh Safi al-Din Ardebili in Ardebil. They were not however just used in religious surroundings; similar decoration is found on doors in the bazaar and in the Chahar Bagh School in Isfahan. This latter pair has very similar geometry to the present door and a very comparable proportion within each small panel of khatamakar work as opposed to the ground material. The ground material on that example is however ivory. One example which can be conclusively dated to the very beginning of the Safavid period is the sarcophagus in the shrine of Musa al-Qasim in present-day Iraq. This is signed by Muhammad Jima and dated AH 906 (1500-01 AD). Three examples in this technique are also signed by one Habibullah, one of which is dated 1591 AD; these are in the Berlin Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the museum in Bukhara.
A few pieces from the 15th century have inlay work which relates to that on the present door, although it has not yet achieved the finesse seen here. In particular the work used here in the squares containing the name 'Ali is very close to decorative details from the 15th century such as the border of the cover of the famous carved wooden casket made for Ulugh Beg which employs exactly this technique, using ivory and ebony in square tesserae (Thomas W. Lentz and Glenn D. Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, Los Angeles, 1989, no.49, p.142). Two doors from the Gur-i Mir in Samarqand which can be dated to around 1405 AD also appear to use a very similar idea for the decoration of lozenge panels around which the wooden ground is carved (Arthur Upham Pope, A Survey of Persian Art, Oxford, 1938, pl.1470). Though the geometry is more complex than the Ulugh Beg casket, the individual pieces are still not nearly as small as those used in the present door. In its outer border of chevrons the Gur-i Mir door also presages the present example.
The technique appears to be one which the Safavid craftsmen refined and made far finer in detail. A small number of doors which are comparable to the present one have survived. A very close example was purchased by the David Collection (Kjeld von Folsach, Art from the World of Islam in the David Collection, Copenhagen, 1991, no.448, p.280, dated there to the 17th century). The work in the individual panels there is identical to that found here; the geometry of the interlace is however different and the door is slightly larger overall. Comparable examples are found in many of the most important shrines endowed by the Safavids, including those in Qum, Mashhad and that of Shaykh Safi al-Din Ardebili in Ardebil. They were not however just used in religious surroundings; similar decoration is found on doors in the bazaar and in the Chahar Bagh School in Isfahan. This latter pair has very similar geometry to the present door and a very comparable proportion within each small panel of khatamakar work as opposed to the ground material. The ground material on that example is however ivory. One example which can be conclusively dated to the very beginning of the Safavid period is the sarcophagus in the shrine of Musa al-Qasim in present-day Iraq. This is signed by Muhammad Jima and dated AH 906 (1500-01 AD). Three examples in this technique are also signed by one Habibullah, one of which is dated 1591 AD; these are in the Berlin Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the museum in Bukhara.