Publication Date
242-249 AH / 856-863 AD
Publication Place
-
Museum of Islamic Arts; sluggishness Kairouan
Subject
Carved Indian plane wood.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
الطول: 64 سم؛ العرض: 5.5 سم؛ السماكة 3.5 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
BS 200
Record ID
object;ISL;tn;Mus01;9;ar
Library Location
Museum of Islamic Arts; sluggishness Kairouan
Date
242-249 AH / 856-863 AD
Notes
This piece belongs to the pulpit of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, which was given to the mosque by the Aghlabid Emir, Abu Ibrahim Ahmad, and is the oldest dated pulpit in the Islamic world. This pulpit, made of Indian plane wood, consists of more than three hundred carved and assembled pieces. The framed panels, with their rare richness of decoration, indicate the diversity of the material from which the African (Tunisian) decorative artist draws his models. This piece forms part of the supports that were used as the upper frame for the pulpit’s railing. It is a panel decorated with rich floral decoration, consisting of a twig twisted into successive rings, each of which contains a flattened vine leaf attached to a cluster of dangling grapes. This decorative element, which revolves around a simplified five-lobed or curved three-lobed vine leaf, is a favorite theme among the ornamental plants used during the Aghlabid period. All of these decorations, which are imbued with Byzantine influences, bear a resemblance to the decoration that we find on monuments and carved objects dating back to the Umayyad period. The subtlety of the botanical decoration and the richness and precision of the execution, in addition to the nature of the woods used, all indicate the maturity of African (Tunisian) art during that era and its ability to flourish as well as to develop the Umayyad decorative heritage, and thus it can claim to be its heir.
Sample Text
Mourad Rammah “Piece of carved wood” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tn;Mus01;9;ar