AN EARLY MAMLUK TWO-PIECE CARVED WOOD AND IVORY-INLAID STAR PANEL, EGYPT, 13TH/EARLY 14TH CENTURY |

each section forming half of a twelve-pointed star, the central fields carved with scrolling and entwined leafy tendrils issuing palmette terminals, set in an ebony frame inlaid with a thin ivory band

This panel, which displays complex dexterity, was decorated with a distinctive Mamluk geometric and foliate design and bears witness to the architectural preferences of the dynasty. A similar panel found in the David collects ion (Copenhagen, Inv. no. 6/2008) also uses various shades of wood and naturally occurring materials that add a similar contrast and depth.

Stylistically similar to the muqarnas that would adorn the ceilings of Mamluk buildings and decorative doors seen throughout Mamluk buildings, this complex and well-preserved wooden panel is stylistically close to examples on the minbar of the mosque of Al-Nasfi Qaisun in Cairo of 1329 AD (E. Prisse d’Avennes, Arab Art, London, 1983, p.107, pl.85-6). It is noted by Doris Behrens-Abouseif that throughout the general richness of Mamluk architecture “the wooden minbar occupied a prominent place” (D. Behrens-Abouseif, Cairo of the Mamluks, A History of the Architecture and its Culture, London, 2007, p. 96). These would often feature elaborate geometric stars much like the one seen here.

The central sections with some dirt encrustation between interstices, some vertical cracks and small sections chipped in wood, the ebony and ivory frame with some nicks and scratches, some vertical cracks, reverse with remnants of adhesive and red velvet, as viewed.
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This twelve-sided stellar panel is characteristic of Mamluk design, which saw a development of complex geometric patterns comprising interlocking polygons, each, as in the present example, intricately carved with flowing, interwoven palmettes. It is stylistically close to examples on the minbar of the mosque of Al-Nasfi Qaisun in Cairo of 730 AH/1329 AD (E. Prisse d’Avennes, Arab Art, London, 1983, p.107, pl.85-6).