Panel, carved wood

The panel was carved with a number of curved, abstract forms that might resemble a bird, but emerge from highly stylized foliage and palmettes. These forms were carved diagonally, and as is typical of this type of composition, it is difficult to differentiate between the motif and the background. This special form of decoration, which was used on many materials, was developed in the Abbasid capital of Samarra in the 9th century. From here the “beveled style” spread to the rest of the caliphate, including Egypt, where closely related wooden panels were made in the 10th century.

The panel was originally symmetrical, but the composition’s other half, a mirror image of it, is missing today. We do not know if it was part of a piece of furniture or of an architectural frieze.