Publication Date
Second half of the 3rd century AH/second half of the 9th century AD
Publication Place
-
Museum of Islamic Arts; Raqqada; Kairouan
Subject
Sculpted plaster.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
الطول: 8 سم؛ العرض: 1,5 سنتم؛ الارتفاع: 4 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
Stc 005
Record ID
object;ISL;tn;Mus01;36;ar
Library Location
Museum of Islamic Arts; Raqqada; Kairouan
Date
Second half of the 3rd century AH/second half of the 9th century AD
Notes
The inkwell is in the shape of a cube, and consists of a medium ring with a conical stem that is used to deposit ink, while the two ends remain completely empty to make space for placing pens. The inkwell is covered on its four sides with very abstract geometric decorations, and is composed, in the middle, of a striped rhombus, decorated with four hollow triangles, the whole inscribed within a square whose four corners are decorated with identical triangles. On either side of this central figure is a geometric decoration made up of overlapping triangles that form what resembles a beehive. This decoration is sometimes reminiscent of the tasseling of Berber rugs, but it is clearly similar to the tiled decorations we see on the ancient blocked doors of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, which dates back to the AH 3rd / AD 9th century. This inkwell is the only example that has survived from the Middle Ages in Tunisia. This is why it is difficult for us to track its development. However, the roughly cylindrical pendulums found in the Samarkand excavations, which can be attributed to the period between the 2nd and 4th / 8th and 10th centuries, provide similarities with the shape of the ring in the middle of the inkwell and the open geometric decoration that characterizes the Kairouan pendulum.
Sample Text
Mourad Rammah “Inkwell” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tn;Mus01;36;ar
