LACMA

ShopMembershipMyLACMATickets
LACMA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
info@lacma.org
(323) 857-6000
Sign up to receive emails
Subscribe
© Museum Associates 2025

Museum Hours

Monday

11 am–6 pm

Tuesday

11 am–6 pm

Wednesday

Closed

Thursday

11 am–6 pm

Friday

11 am–8 pm

Saturday

10 am–7 pm

Sunday

10 am–7 pm

 

  • About LACMA
  • Jobs
  • Building LACMA
  • Host An Event
  • Unframed
  • Press
  • FAQs
  • Log in to MyLACMA
  • Privacy Policy
© Museum Associates 2025
Collections

Balustrade Terminalearly 14th century

Not on view
Carved stone architectural fragment with cream-white surface, featuring knotwork relief on a projecting upper panel and an allover lattice of interlocking geometric and floral motifs across the main body
Stone architectural fragment with deeply carved arabesque scrollwork across two rectangular panels; a smaller upper section features pierced geometric star-pattern lattice carving. Pale limestone with weathered surface.
Carved stone architectural fragment with deeply relief-cut arabesque and interlacing vegetal patterns divided into rectangular panels; a smaller openwork lattice section projects from the upper right corner. Pale limestone with worn, rough-textured surface.
Stone architectural fragment with deeply carved arabesques and geometric interlace; a projecting finial at upper left bears a diagonal knotwork panel, while the main slab displays a grid of interlocking star and vegetal motifs alongside a columned arcade with a roundel.
Close-up of a limestone stela with low-relief carving, showing a projecting figural element at center surrounded by interlaced serpentine and scrollwork patterns, with a grid-like carved panel at lower right; pale gray stone against a dark background.
Stone architectural fragment, close-up view of a column or pilaster capital with deeply carved geometric strapwork and interlacing arabesque patterns, with stepped bracket projections on the right side, against a dark background.
Title
Balustrade Terminal
Place Made
Iran
Date Made
early 14th century
Medium
Limestone, carved
Dimensions
Height: 26 1/4 in. (66.68 cm)
Credit Line
The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky
Accession Number
M.73.5.5
Classification
Architecture
Collecting Area
Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes

This elaborately carved stone probably was once part of a staircase railing in a multistory building. It is one of several such architectural elements preserved in museums in the United States and Europe, one of which is inscribed with the date AD 1303–4. As is typical of this closely related group, a lion carved in relief on either side forms a pair when the stone slab is viewed head-on.

Selected Bibliography

  • Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015.

  • Pal, Pratapaditya, Thomas W. Lentz, Sheila R. Canby, Edwin Binney, 3rd, Walter B. Denny, and Stephen Markel. "Arts from Islamic Cultures: Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Arts of Asia 17, no. 6 (November/December 1987): 73-130.