The Islamic tendency toward highly abstract forms and away from naturalistic effects is evident in this panel. The 'Abbasid beveled style, so-called because the pattern lines are carved at an oblique angle to the surface, initially appears in the stucco decoration of houses and palaces of Samarra, the ninth-century capital in Iraq. This was the first truly innovative style created by early Muslim artists. With its harmonious and rhythmical arrangement of absract forms that lend themselves to endless repetition, the beveled style was an important step in the development of the true arabesque. The elements in this panel seem based largely on vegetal forms.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Panel
Date:9th century
Geography:Attributed to Egypt
Medium:Wood; carved
Dimensions:H. 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm) W. 23 1/4 in. (59.1 cm) D. 1 5/16 in. (3.3 cm)
Classification:Wood
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1935
Accession Number:35.141.1
Panel
The 'Abbasid period gave rise to a new aesthetic whose dominant traits — abstraction, stylization, total surface covering, and symmetry —would remain constant features of Islamic art. The impact of this type of decoration was immediately felt in all media and its principles would eventually lead to the birth of the "arabesque," the most characteristic Islamic ornament. The carving technique of the panel illustrates the famous "beveled" cut which also originated at that time, in the carved stucco wall dadoes of the houses and palaces of Samarra, the Abbasid capital. This style expanded quickly to all kinds of media, one of which was wood, and became a point of reference for a long time. From the capital, it spread to points both east and west, becoming very popular throughout the vast Abbasid empire. This fragment, for example, is most likely from Tulunid Egypt which was strongly influenced by the art of Samarra towards the middle of the ninth century. The characteristic motifs of the "beveled" style are simple palmettes, spirals, volutes, trefoils, "bottle" and "heart" shapes. They are all carved in such a way that their outlines meet the background surface at an oblique angle, their contours are fashioned rounded and with no sharp edges, and there is an interplay between the foreground design and the background making it difficult to distinguish one from the other. The function of wood in Islam being primarily architectural, panels such as these would instead have been parts of doors, cupboards, lintels, or other such elements.
Annie Christine Daskalakis-Matthews in [Walker et al. 1994]
[ Maurice Nahman, Cairo, until 1935; 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. 27.
The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Nature of Islamic Ornament Part II: Vegetal Patterns," September 10, 1998–January 10, 1999, no catalogue.
Dimand, Maurice S. "Accessions of Islamic Art." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin vol. 31 (1936). p. 146, ill. fig. 1 (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. 27, pp. 98–99, ill. (b/w).
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