{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O73943"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O73943/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AT6238/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AT6238/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AT6238","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KC7961","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LX5543","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O73943/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O73943","accessionNumber":"785A-1896","objectType":"Panel","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This rectangular wooden panel is part of a set of nine believed to have come from the palatial complex of Qalawan, which was constructed in the late thirteenth century on the ruins of the Fatimid Palace of Cairo (originally constructed by the caliph Mustansir in 1058).  Carved panels with similar low and high relief patterning have been confidently attributed to the Maristan (hospital) of Qalawum, and were likely used to decorate its ceiling, or the soffit of a lintel; indeed, an architrave where such panels would have fitted existed at the entrance corridor that led to the hospital of the complex.  \r\n\r\nFatimid Egypt (969-1171) witnessed a great flourishing of wood carving, with surviving pieces associated with architecture, being friezes, door panels and surface panels and beams, many of which are currently preserved in situ within Coptic churches, mosques and secular buildings in Cairo.  While surviving pieces of Islamic woodwork date back to the seventh century, Fatimid examples demonstrate a complex and wide iconographic repertoire of designs, motifs, and figures, building upon previous Abbasid, Coptic and Tulunid styles while exploiting foliated intersections, overlapping fields, and interlace patterns.  The rich and layered carvings created by Fatimid wood carvers warranted considerable appreciation, causing pieces to be salvaged and re-utilised in later Ayyubid and Mamluk construction.  Today, much Fatimid woodwork survives within the construct of later buildings or furnishings.   \r\n\r\nDespite wood having existing in abundance in Egypt, much wood during the Fatimid period was believed to have been imported.  While the Fatimids supposedly controlled the exploitation of acacia in Upper Egypt, Fatimid woodwork exists in a variety of woods including pine, acacia, cypress, ebony and teak, these reflecting both indigenous as well as imported species.  The cost of both importing the wood along with the fine craftsmanship employed, suggests that these panels were a part of a luxury market. \r\n","physicalDescription":"Wooden panel carved in deep relief with a symmetrical design of interlaced scrolling foliage which forms a series of vertically-stacked cusped arches. The design is contained within a plain border.  The top and bottom edges are grooved and flanges run the entire length of both sides, enabling the piece to be slotted into a larger wooden matrix .   At the centre of the composition are two addorsed hares.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"wood","id":"AAT11914"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carved","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Carved wood","categories":[{"text":"Islam","id":"THES48932"},{"text":"Africa","id":"THES49019"}],"styles":[{"text":"Fatimid","id":"AAT21550"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"MES","id":"THES48607"},"images":["2006AT6238","2017KC7961","2019LX5543"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"A","id":"THES304447"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Panel","id":"x47676"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Egypt","id":"x29512"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Cairo","id":"x28776"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"probably"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1000-1100","earliest":"1000-01-01","latest":"1100-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"46.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"21","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This object was purchased for £25 (set of nine) from Henry Wallis Esq. F.S.A. in 1896 in Egypt.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Rectangular shaped, carved wooden panel, Egypt, Fatimid period, 1000-1100","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Contadini,Anna. <u>Fatimid Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum</u> London:V&A, 1998  pp. 111-112, pl. 51"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Bernard O’Kane, ed. The Treasures of Islamic Art in the Museum of Cairo (The American University of Cairo Press: Cairo & New York, 2006)"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"L.A. Mayer. Islamic Woodcarvers and their Works (Geneva: Albert Kundig, 1958), pp. 14-16"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"hare","id":"x30063"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["785A-1896"],"accessionNumberNum":"785","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1896,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-24","recordCreationDate":"2003-02-06","availableToBook":true}}