A TIMURID CARVED GREY SCHIST STONE FRAGMENT Iran or Central...

A TIMURID CARVED GREY SCHIST STONE FRAGMENT
Iran or Central Asia, 15th century

Of irregular, lobed triangular shape, deeply carved with a central palmette amid leaves and flowers, mounted on a stand.

11cm x 22cm

For a similar example:
See the cenotaph in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston (S12w2). While commenting on this cenotaph Rice suggests that its elaborated design may have originated in a Persian manuscript library and workshop (Kitabkhane). Timurid kitābkhānas were not only centres for manuscript production but also for the creation of preparatory drawings on paper, which could be transferred onto different materials, including silk, wood, metal and stone. Preparatory drawings preserved in Berlin, Istanbul and Harvard display motifs closely related to those carved on the cenotaph, including bilateral symmetry, vegetal interlace, floral and geometric forms, suggesting a shared repertoire of designs used by Timurid craftsmen.