CENTRAL ASIAN TIMURID TOMB FRAGMENT 1450-1500 AD A black basalt memorial, of square form, the sides and edges carved with arabesque scrolling plants, the central panel with four lines of pseudo-Kufic design. 17 kg, 29 x 32cm (11 1/2 x 12 1/2"). Fine condition. Rare Provenance Property of a gentleman; from a Mayfair, London, UK, gallery; previously with Bonhams, Tuesday 8 April 2014, lot 52W. Literature Cf. Lentz, T. and Lowy, G. Timur and the Princely Vision, Los Angeles 1989, p.209 for an example in the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. Footnotes The carving on this memorial stone gives it a sense of lushness and movement that is seen on a related group of tombstones that represent the finest Timurid stone carving, and which illustrates that the stone carvers were well aware of contemporary innovations in manuscript illumination, carpets and woodwork. The style of script on this piece is known as naskh, a monumental form of kufic, popular in Central Asia. Lotus and peony blossoms punctuate the border channels, evoking not only the influence of Chinese art so prized by the Timurids, but also the Islamic concept of the after-life as a garden. The notion that the faithful will be rewarded in an eternal garden is perhaps also alluded to by the term rawdat, a word that can mean both tomb and garden.
CENTRAL ASIAN TIMURID TOMB FRAGMENT 1450-1500 AD A black basalt memorial, of square form, the sides and edges carved with arabesque scrolling plants, the central panel with four lines of pseudo-Kufic design. 17 kg, 29 x 32cm (11 1/2 x 12 1/2"). Fine condition. Rare Provenance Property of a gentleman; from a Mayfair, London, UK, gallery; previously with Bonhams, Tuesday 8 April 2014, lot 52W. Literature Cf. Lentz, T. and Lowy, G. Timur and the Princely Vision, Los Angeles 1989, p.209 for an example in the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. Footnotes The carving on this memorial stone gives it a sense of lushness and movement that is seen on a related group of tombstones that represent the finest Timurid stone carving, and which illustrates that the stone carvers were well aware of contemporary innovations in manuscript illumination, carpets and woodwork. The style of script on this piece is known as naskh, a monumental form of kufic, popular in Central Asia. Lotus and peony blossoms punctuate the border channels, evoking not only the influence of Chinese art so prized by the Timurids, but also the Islamic concept of the after-life as a garden. The notion that the faithful will be rewarded in an eternal garden is perhaps also alluded to by the term rawdat, a word that can mean both tomb and garden.
.jpg "Source: Timeline Auctions")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
