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Fragment of wall decoration

Title	Fragment of wall decoration
Author	Unknown (makers)
Publication Place	Samarra (made) Iraq -
Subject	Architectural Fittings Archaeology
Type	Other
Language	Undetermined
Digital	Yes
Manuscript	No
Physical Dimensions	Height: 22cm, Width: 29cm, Depth: 10cm, Weight: 4.5kg (approximate)
Library:	Victoria and Albert Museum
Library Asset ID	A.69-1922
Record ID	A.69-1922
Library Location	Middle East Section
Notes	Fragment from a frieze, plaster, carved with a hexafoil with vine and foliate devices; Iraq (Samarra), 9th century.
Sample Text	Transliteration,
Tarihsel bağlam	Samarra was founded by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833-842) in 836 AD to serve as his imperial capital. The sight chosen was about 125km upstream from Baghdad on the left bank of the Tigris. The founding of new cities was an important way of displaying values of kingship. Al-Mu'tasim ordered the construction of a planned city including a network of canals, streets, monumental mosques, palaces, gardens and racecourses. He also allocated land to military and court officials, who built richly decorated palace complexes and greatly increased the size of the city. His son and successor, Caliph al-Mutawakkil (r. 847-861) ordered the construction of the famous spiral minaret at the great mosque. Construction halted at Samarra in about 880 AD and later was abandoned by the Caliph and his court in 892. At 57 km2, Samarra is today the largest Islamic archaeological site in the world. The construction of the many mosques and palaces at Samarra fostered an early flowering of architectural decoration. What mainly survives today are wall revetments in carved plaster and wall paintings on fine gypsum surfaces. Earlier Iranian (Sassanian) decorative styles influenced much of the carved plaster panels found at Samarra. The decoration was primarily based on vegetal forms but later developed into more abstract motifs. The wall paintings illustrate a wide range of subjects such as geometric patterns and courtly scenes with figurative representations of listening and playing music, banqueting and dancing. Depictions of animals, especially camels and birds also feature on fragments recovered from the site.
Malzemeler ve teknikler	Plaster, carved and incised Plaster
Fiziksel açıklama	Fragment of a freize, plaster, forming a corner element, deeply carved, the border with lightly incised chevrons following a pattern of deeply drilled holes alternating between two and one as an outline for the carver. The corner contains a split palmette and vine leaf motif surrounding the ribbed border of a hexafoil, containing vine leaves. (Herzfeld style 3; and Creswell's style A) The top margin is flat, and then inset by 6.5cm, with the thinner section projecting 3.1cm.
Üslup	Abbasid

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Victoria and Albert Museum

Fragment of wall decoration

Author Unknown (makers)

Publication Place Samarra (made) Iraq -

Subject Architectural Fittings Archaeology

Type Other

Language Undetermined

Digital Yes

Manuscript No

Physical Dimensions Height: 22cm, Width: 29cm, Depth: 10cm, Weight: 4.5kg (approximate)

Library Victoria and Albert Museum

Library Asset ID A.69-1922

Record ID A.69-1922

Library Location Middle East Section

Notes Fragment from a frieze, plaster, carved with a hexafoil with vine and foliate devices; Iraq (Samarra), 9th century.

Sample Text Transliteration,

Tarihsel bağlam Samarra was founded by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833-842) in 836 AD to serve as his imperial capital. The sight chosen was about 125km upstream from Baghdad on the left bank of the Tigris. The founding of new cities was an important way of displaying values of kingship. Al-Mu'tasim ordered the construction of a planned city including a network of canals, streets, monumental mosques, palaces, gardens and racecourses. He also allocated land to military and court officials, who built richly decorated palace complexes and greatly increased the size of the city. His son and successor, Caliph al-Mutawakkil (r. 847-861) ordered the construction of the famous spiral minaret at the great mosque. Construction halted at Samarra in about 880 AD and later was abandoned by the Caliph and his court in 892. At 57 km2, Samarra is today the largest Islamic archaeological site in the world. The construction of the many mosques and palaces at Samarra fostered an early flowering of architectural decoration. What mainly survives today are wall revetments in carved plaster and wall paintings on fine gypsum surfaces. Earlier Iranian (Sassanian) decorative styles influenced much of the carved plaster panels found at Samarra. The decoration was primarily based on vegetal forms but later developed into more abstract motifs. The wall paintings illustrate a wide range of subjects such as geometric patterns and courtly scenes with figurative representations of listening and playing music, banqueting and dancing. Depictions of animals, especially camels and birds also feature on fragments recovered from the site.

Malzemeler ve teknikler Plaster, carved and incised Plaster

Fiziksel açıklama Fragment of a freize, plaster, forming a corner element, deeply carved, the border with lightly incised chevrons following a pattern of deeply drilled holes alternating between two and one as an outline for the carver. The corner contains a split palmette and vine leaf motif surrounding the ribbed border of a hexafoil, containing vine leaves. (Herzfeld style 3; and Creswell's style A) The top margin is flat, and then inset by 6.5cm, with the thinner section projecting 3.1cm.

Üslup Abbasid