Epigraphic ivory panel
Mamluk Egypt, late 14th century - early 15th century
Rectangular ivory sconce, finely carved and chiseled with an elegant thuluth script inscription in high relief against a background of delicate spiral arabesques and two-lobed fleurons. The text is part of a poetic verse.
Frame: 22.5 x 12.5 cm. Ivory panel: 5.1 x 14.8 cm
P. B. : 193 gr
Inscriptions:
"wa-najm sa'adika fi..."
"And the star of your fortune is in..."
"And the star of your fortune in..."
A carbon-14 analysis carried out by the Ciram laboratory on August 4, 2020 confirms a dating of 95.4% between 1298 and 1410, with a probability of 69.7% for the period 1298-1371.
Provenance :
Public sale, Ader, Paris, July 7, 2020, lot 170.
According to information received, public sale, Paris, Drouot, former French collection.
The combined use of ivory and wood was an extremely popular technique in the Mamluk period, used for the ornamentation of buildings and luxury furniture in religious and residential contexts. The contrast between the whiteness of the ivory and the depth of the wood made it possible to highlight plant ornamentation, or the name of the patron or owner, then accompanied by praise for them.
The incomplete inscription on the present plaque indicates that it was part of a larger ensemble. Slightly smaller than similar models preserved in public collections, and in the absence of a patron's name, we can assume that the present panel was a decorative element for a wall or piece of furniture commissioned by a wealthy patron, a member of the Mamluk aristocracy.
The later framing of this model also bears witness to the successive use of these precious ivory plates. Composed of different wood species inlaid on several zigzag lines, this frame echoes the panel presented at Blanchet & Associés, Paris, December 4, 2020, lot 177; a frame that tends to highlight these ivories sought after by European collectors, as evidenced by the numerous occurrences in the catalogs of Muslim art exhibitions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Related work :
Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. OA 7461
New York, Metropolitan Museum of arts, inv. 07.236.5.
London, British Museum, inv. 1880.6-7.1-4
Cairo, Museum of Islamic Art, inv. 2334
Tardy & co. Ivories. Sur les presses. France, 1977. p. 98.
Kjeld von Folsach. Islamic Art: The David Collection. Copenhagen: D. Samling, 1990. p. 171, fig. 284.
A Mamluk carved inscription ivory panel, Egypt, late 14th - early 15th century
