Publication Date
750
Publication Place
Iraq (found) -
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
Height: 17.6cm, Width: 18.2cm, Depth: 6cm
Library
Victoria and Albert Museum
Library Asset ID
A.28-1932
Record ID
A.28-1932
Library Location
Middle East Section
Date
750
Notes
Al-Hira was an ancient city in south-central Iraq, which played a significant role in influencing the development of early Islamic architecture, for example at Samarra. Excavations of several of the raised mounds at the site were carried out during an Oxford expedition in 1931 under David Talbot Rice (1903-1972). Initially occupied during the Sasanian period, the site of a fortress-like palace structure was in continuous use until the second half of the 8th century based on numismatic and other archaeological evidence. Its layout shows affinities with the Palace of Ukhaidir, built during the Abbasid Caliphate. Carved stucco work decorated a number of the door jambs, several of which survived in situ, as well in fragments found on the floor. These are among the earliest examples of Islamic stucco to have been identified. Significantly they are made of true stucco using lime plaster, characterised by a white, hard, stone-like appearance, unlike the greyish gypsum plaster employed at Samarra. There are stylistic parallels with similar stucco work found at Ctesiphon, excavated by a German expedition in 1928-29. The stucco finds in the Victoria and Albert Museum are associated with the decoration found on wide door jambs (30 cm in width) found in Building I as well apparently as cornices and pilasters. The stiff deep carving was created with a steep-cut (Tiefendunkel), using a hand drill which is distinct from the slant-cut characteristic of Samarran carving. In 1932, David Talbot Rice presented the stucco finds from Hira to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, but offered a selection to Richard P. Bedford, Keeper in the Department of Architecture and Sculpture ( the Middle Eastern Department was not created until 2002), as âimportant examples of designsâ along with photos of a door jamb from Hira. Rice described the stucco finds as being from three restorable door-jambs, a portion of a small frieze and a few other fragments. A selection of âhalf-a dozen of the best specimensâ were requested. As Bedford explained to Talbot Rice in a letter of 16 April 1932, âWe should like to be able to choose from specimens of artistic rather than purely archaeological interestâ. In the end, of the fragments sent, it was felt that it was not possible to âreconstruct anything like a large panel from the piecesâ and only five were selected.
Sample Text
Transliteration,
Malzemeler ve teknikler
Lime plaster, carved Plaster Carved
Fiziksel açıklama
Fragment from a frieze, lime plaster, carved with a scrolling vegetal design between two incomplete roundels, the upper surface is carved in low relief. The underside has impressions of the straw matting used in its prepartion. Two holes are pierced horizontally through the fabric, possibly part of the original system to affix the section to an upright surface. There are also modern drillholes and one eye screw in situ, evidence of modern museum display techniques. There is a crack across the middle o of the section. The lime plaster is in three layers of medium grain, all of greyish colour, the middle is considerably darker, applied on straw mats, imprints of the weave visible on the underside.
