Bookbinding

first half 14th century

Not on view

Complex geometric patterns, a conventional feature of the Mamluk decorative repertoire, also were popular in inlaid woodwork and stone mosaics, where they were achieved with equal mastery and imagination. The front and back of this bookbinding contain the same design, a blind-tooled interlacing geometric pattern that expands outward from a central star medallion. The star in this design is formed by the intersection of two overlapping hexagons with two overlapping eight-pointed stars (created by two rotated squares). The bookbinding has lost the flap that would have protected the front edge of the manuscript it once held.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Bookbinding
Date: first half 14th century
Geography: Made in Egypt or Syria
Medium: Leather; stamped and gilded
Dimensions: H. 10 in. (25.4 cm)
W. 7 3/4 in. (19.7 cm)
D. 3/8 in. (1 cm)
Classification: Codices
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1933
Object Number: 33.14
Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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Bookbinding, Leather, gold; stamped, tooled — Bookbinding
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Bookbinding, Leather; stamped and gilded — Bookbinding
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"The Elephant Clock", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari, Farrukh ibn `Abd al-Latif, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper — "The Elephant Clock", Folio from a Book of the Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by al-Jazari
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