Head, carved stucco

Stucco was a favorite material for decorating architecture from the earliest Islamic period. Several of the Umayyad hunting lodges in Palestine from the 8th century had interiors decorated with human figures in stucco, including princes and more or less scantily clad dancing girls.

Related courtly scenes were repeated in stucco decorations under the Seljuks and were also found on contemporary ceramics and metalwork. Figurative stucco decorations were only used in secular buildings, never in mosques or religious institutions.

This head was originally part of a large relief that probably also included its body.