This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English, Arabic.

Name of Object:

Panel with horse heads

Location:

New York, United States of America

Holding Museum:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

About The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Date of Object:

Hegira late 4th–5th century / AD 11th century

Museum Inventory Number:

11.205.2

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Wood (teak); carved

Dimensions:

H: 34.9cm, W: 22.7cm, D: 1.7cm; Object with mount: L: 35.9cm, W: 23.2cm, D: 4.1cm

Period / Dynasty:

Fatimid

Provenance:

Egypt

Description:

This panel, probably from a wooden door, is deeply carved with two symmetrical horse heads in relief. Beaded bands and bridles amid the arabesque design attest to careful attention to detail on the part of the craftsman. The piece was carved to different depths in order to produce a chiaroscuro effect, a technique mastered by Fatimid woodworkers. A companion piece, almost certainly from the same door, is in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo.

How Object was obtained:

Rogers Fund, 1911

Vendor: Lucy Olcott Perkins, Florence

Former owner [dealer]: [Lucy Olcott Perkins, Florence, until 1911; sold to MMA]

Selected bibliography:

Aanavi, Don, "Western Islamic Art", Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 27/3 (November 1968): 197-203, ill. 198 (b/w).
Alexander, David, Furusiyya: Catalogue. Vol. 2, Riyadh: King Abdulaziz Public Library, 1996: 211, no. 176, ill. 211 (colour).
Barrucand, Marianne, Trésors Fatimides du Caire. Exposition Présentée à l'Institut du Monde Arabe du 28 Avril au 30 Aout 1998, Paris: Institut du Monde Arabe, 1998: no. 14, 95, ill. (colour).
Carboni, Stefano, "The Arts of the Fatimid Period at the Metropolitan Museum of Art", The Ismaili, (2008): 6, ill. fig. 6 (colour).
Dimand, Maurice S., A Handbook of Mohammedan Decorative Arts, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1930: 88–89, ill. fig. 39 (b/w).
Dimand, Maurice S., A Handbook of Muhammadan Art, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944: 112, ill. fig. 63 (b/w).
Ekhtiar, Maryam, Canby, Sheila R., Haidar, Navina and Soucek, Priscilla P. (eds), Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011: 136, 163, no. 112, ill. 163 (colour).
Ettinghausen, Richard, "Almost One Hundred Years Ago", in Richard Ettinghausen Islamic Art (ed), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1972.
Ettinghausen, Richard, Grabar, Oleg and Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn, Islamic Art and Architecture 650–1250, New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2001: 201, ill. fig. 314 (colour).
Fehérvári, Géza and Hamid Safadi, Yasin, 1400 Years of Islamic Art. A Descriptive Catalogue, London: Khalili Gallery, 1981.
O'Kane, Bernard, The Treasures of Islamic Art in the Museums of Cairo, Cairo/New York: American University in Cairo Press, 2006: 88.
Seipel, Wilfried, Schatze der Kalifen. Islamische Kunst zur Fatimidenzeit, Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1999: 83, no. 15, ill. 83 (colour).
Welch, Stuart Cary, The Islamic World. Vol. 11, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987: 26, ill. fig. 14 (colour).

Additional Copyright Information:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1911

Citation of this web page:

 "Panel with horse heads" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;us;Mus23;7;en

MWNF Working Number: US3 07