Fragment of a marble panel carved on both sides
Afghanistan, Ghazna; c. 1100
H: 46; W: 85; D: 8 cm
Inventory number 23a-b/1989
The panel probably comes from a parapet that demarcated an outside area in a palace, perhaps a kind of balcony. Other pieces of the same parapet were found in the Ghaznavids’ old capital of Ghazna. All show related motifs: hunting scenes, dancing women, battle scenes or tournaments, and processions of exotic animals. This range of motifs was exceedingly popular in the early and medieval Islamic world – especially in a princely context – but rarely has survived on such a monumental scale as on these panels.
The faces were presumably mutilated by strictly religious Muslims.
The faces were presumably mutilated by strictly religious Muslims.
Published in
Published in
Kjeld von Folsach: Islamic art. The David Collection, Copenhagen 1990, back cover;
Kjeld von Folsach, Torben Lundbæk and Peder Mortensen (eds.): Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal: the history and culture of the Islamic world, The National Museum, Copenhagen 1996, cat.no. 248;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat.no. 395;
Eric Delpont (ed.): Chevaux et cavaliers arabes dans les arts d'Orient et d'Occident, Institut du monde arabe, Paris 2002, cat.no. 132, p. 170;
Kjeld von Folsach, Joachim Meyer: The Human Figure in Islamic Art – Holy Men, Princes, and Commoners, The David Collection, Copenhagen 2017, cat.no. 1;
Kjeld von Folsach, Torben Lundbæk and Peder Mortensen (eds.): Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal: the history and culture of the Islamic world, The National Museum, Copenhagen 1996, cat.no. 248;
Kjeld von Folsach: Art from the World of Islam in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2001, cat.no. 395;
Eric Delpont (ed.): Chevaux et cavaliers arabes dans les arts d'Orient et d'Occident, Institut du monde arabe, Paris 2002, cat.no. 132, p. 170;
Kjeld von Folsach, Joachim Meyer: The Human Figure in Islamic Art – Holy Men, Princes, and Commoners, The David Collection, Copenhagen 2017, cat.no. 1;
