Finials are by nature ornamental rather than integral elements of architecture or furniture. In this appealingly proportioned wooden object carved in low relief, the monumental yet softly rounded thuluth inscription carries the same weight as the large-scale arabesque decoration with interlacing rumi or split-palmette leaves and trefoil-like flowers. The Arabic inscription proclaims the Shi‘a profession of faith: "There is no God but God (Allah); Muhammad is the Prophet of God and ‘Ali is the friend of God." The nature of the inscription suggests that the finial may have been part of the interior decoration of a Shi‘a tomb or shrine.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Finial, Possibly from a Cenotaph
Date:late 14th–16th century
Geography:Possibly made in Turkey or Iran
Medium:Wood; turned and carved with traces of later paint and gilding
Dimensions:H. 13 in. (33 cm) Max. Diam. 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm)
Classification:Wood
Credit Line:Louis E. and Theresa S. Seley Purchase Fund for Islamic Art and Rogers Fund, 1988
Accession Number:1988.346
Finial
Even though finials were commonly used as decorative elements in Islamic art and architecture, extant pieces such as this richly ornamented and inscribed example are exceedingly rare today. Acquired only a few years ago, the finial's precise place of origin, as well as the piece of furniture to which it once belonged, still remain uncertain. The function of these decorative appurtenances was purely decorative, providing the finishing touch to all manner of works of art like domes, tents, palanquins, thrones, sarcophagi, minbars, and dikkas (respectively mosque pulpits and respondents' platforms). Finial-like motifs also surround the illuminated pages of lavish Qur'ans. Running around the widest circumference of the finial's pear-shaped body is an Arabic inscription proclaiming the Shi'a profession of faith: "There is no God but God (Allah), and Muhammad is the Prophet of God, and 'Ali is the Friend of God." The mention of 'Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad who was the first Shi'ite Imam (leader of the community of the faithful), may indicate that the finial graced the corners of a piece of lithurgical furniture, or a sarcophagus, in a Shi''a tomb or shrine. A possible Indian provenance is suggested by the style of the thuluth script, particularly the way that the vertical ascenders of letters such as alif and lam broaden at the top. A similar handling of these characters is, for example, found on the Qur'anic inscriptions around the lower sections of the Qutb Minar minaret tower in Delhi. The finial's inscription has as a backdrop an all-over carved decoration of symmetrical arabeque and interlace terminating in trefoils, or palmettes, motifs hailing back to the earliest Islamic ornamental ensembles and enjoying an exceptional efflorescence in the 14th and 15th centuries throughout the Islamic world. The shape of the finial, oddly enough, is more familiar in Anatolia than India, so for now the provenance of the piece remains uncertain.
Marie Lukens Swietochowski and Annie Christine Daskalakis-Matthews in [Walker et al. 1994]
[ Habib Anavian, New York, until 1988; sold to MMA]
Mexico City. Colegio de San Ildefonso. "Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York," September 30, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 30.
New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Nature of Islamic Ornament Part I: Calligraphy," February 26–June 28, 1998, no catalogue.
Schimmel, Annemarie. "Islamic Calligraphy." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., vol. 50, no. 1 (Summer 1992). pp. 23, 25, ill. fig. 30 (b/w).
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Daniel S. Walker, Arturo Ponce Guadián, Sussan Babaie, Stefano Carboni, Aimee Froom, Marie Lukens Swietochowski, Tomoko Masuya, Annie Christine Daskalakis-Matthews, Abdallah Kahil, and Rochelle Kessler. "Colegio de San Ildefonso, Septiembre de 1994–Enero de 1995." In Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1994. no. 30, pp. 104–5, ill. (b/w).
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