Objects of ivory and wood comprise decorative architectural items such as beams and doors, and smaller items such as boxes, jewellery and gaming pieces. Relatively few examples have survived due to the perishability of the materials.
That said, an ivory standing female figure circa 2450 – 2350 BCE from Syria or Mesopotamia is witness to the skills of pre-Islamic artisans. The figure originally included inlays for eyes, eyebrows and the pubic area in addition to holes that indicate the addition of a hair piece.
Ivory was used throughout Islamic times, much of it initially following the Byzantine tradition. Highly prized in Europe in the mediaeval period, many items produced in Islamic lands were donated to churches where they are still preserved in treasuries of cathedrals. Fine objects continued to be produced by Muslim and other craftsmen for Christian patrons in the aftermath of Arab rule in Italy and Spain. Ivory was often used for sword and dagger hilts and small items of adornment such as belt buckles, which are particularly well represented from the Ottoman Empire and India.
The inventiveness of artists continued in the Islamic period. It can be seen in the ‘bevelled’ style of the 9th century through the mediaeval period’s complex geometric patterns which were used for compositions in door panels and furniture, especially well known from pulpits (minbars) and Qur’an stands (kursis) of mosques. A completely different style of carving developed in the Islamic West where a style of florid vegetal decoration developed, often highlighted with polychrome painting.
Objects of ivory and wood comprise decorative architectural items such as beams and doors, and smaller items such as boxes, jewellery and gaming pieces. Relatively few examples have survived due to the perishability of the materials.
That said, an ivory standing female figure circa 2450 – 2350 BCE from Syria or Mesopotamia is witness to the skills of pre-Islamic artisans. The figure originally included inlays for eyes, eyebrows and the pubic area in addition to holes that indicate the addition of a hair piece.
Ivory was used throughout Islamic times, much of it initially following the Byzantine tradition. Highly prized in Europe in the mediaeval period, many items produced in Islamic lands were donated to churches where they are still preserved in treasuries of cathedrals. Fine objects continued to be produced by Muslim and other craftsmen for Christian patrons in the aftermath of Arab rule in Italy and Spain. Ivory was often used for sword and dagger hilts and small items of adornment such as belt buckles, which are particularly well represented from the Ottoman Empire and India.
The inventiveness of artists continued in the Islamic period. It can be seen in the ‘bevelled’ style of the 9th century through the mediaeval period’s complex geometric patterns which were used for compositions in door panels and furniture, especially well known from pulpits (minbars) and Qur’an stands (kursis) of mosques. A completely different style of carving developed in the Islamic West where a style of florid vegetal decoration developed, often highlighted with polychrome painting.
Wooden cenotaph covered in religious inscriptions (in thuluth script) of reassurance, including one from the Qur’an (chapter 2, verse 38)
Inv. no. LNS 8 W
Splined, rabbeted, mortised, tenoned and carved
Height 48 cm; length 140 cm
Turkey, probably 14th – 15th century AD
probably 8th – 9th century AH
Wooden door (two leaves and centre-post); the panels deeply carved with hexagonal compartments filled with leafy half-palmette arabesques, their surfaces further detailed with scrolls and geometric patterns; the post carved with a pattern of calyxes and half-palmettes in ‘bevelled style’
Inv. no. LNS 3 W a-c
Carved, with forged iron fittings
Height 166.5 cm; width 112 cm
Iranian world, 1st half 12th century AD
1st half 6th century AH
Wooden marquetry kit-box for a calligrapher inlaid with wood, ivory and dyed bone and inlaid with gold-painted ivory panels
Inv. no. LNS 191 W
Mitred, mortised and tenoned, covered in micro-mosaic (khatamkari work), ivory panels carved in openwork, and with gold-painted areas (other painted areas probably later)
Height 9.2 cm; length 36.6 cm
India, late 16th – early 17th century AD
late 10th – early 11th century AH
Pair of wooden shutters or cupboard door leaves inlaid with bone, featuring an infinite-repetition geometric star pattern (pentagonal lozenge plan of repetition, ten-pointed stars and other polygons)
Inv. no. LNS 240 W a,b
Mitred, mortised, tenoned, rabbeted and inlaid
Height 114.7 cm; width 107 cm
Egypt, ca. later 14th – 15th century AD
ca. later 8th – 9th century AH
Wooden box with hinged drop-down front for access to the internal drawers, inlaid in floral motifs of ivory and bone (with internal engraved and stained details) against the dark wood field
Inv. no. LNS 194 W
Mitred, mortised and tenoned, and inlaid
Height 20 cm; length 30.8 cm
India, ca. late 17th – 18th century AD
ca. late 11th – 12th century AH
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