Carved Panelfirst half of 9th century

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Carved Panel
Place Made: Egypt
Date Made: first half of 9th century
Medium: Wood, carved
Dimensions: 25 5/16 x 8 in. (64.29 x 20.32 cm)
Credit Line: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky
Accession Number: M.73.5.119
Classification: Wood
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes: This panel likely once formed part of a cenotaph marking the burial place of an individual of some importance given the relative scarcity of wood in Egypt and the careful carving of the low-relief design and inscriptions. Written across the top is the beginning of Qur’an Sura Al-Ikhlas (112), a declaration of God’s unity. The panel belongs to a group of similar carved wood pieces said to have been excavated at Fustat (Old Cairo). All have the same diagonal crack, suggesting that they were discarded and stacked one atop the other, causing the matching fractures.

2024
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya, ed. Islamic Art: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection. Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 1973.
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.
Komaroff, Linda. Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016.

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Carved Panel
Place Made: Egypt
Date Made: first half of 9th century
Medium: Wood, carved
Dimensions: 25 5/16 x 8 in. (64.29 x 20.32 cm)
Credit Line: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky
Accession Number: M.73.5.119
Classification: Wood
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes: This panel likely once formed part of a cenotaph marking the burial place of an individual of some importance given the relative scarcity of wood in Egypt and the careful carving of the low-relief design and inscriptions. Written across the top is the beginning of Qur’an Sura Al-Ikhlas (112), a declaration of God’s unity. The panel belongs to a group of similar carved wood pieces said to have been excavated at Fustat (Old Cairo). All have the same diagonal crack, suggesting that they were discarded and stacked one atop the other, causing the matching fractures.

2024
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya, ed. Islamic Art: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection. Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 1973.
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.
Komaroff, Linda. Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016.