Carved wood
Syria, Egypt and Persia, 8th to 17th Century
Partially with colour
Carved in relief
Flower and animal motifs
With old collection number (F.R. Martin)
Length: 7 to 13 cm
Provenance: ex-collection F.R. Martin, thence Austrian private collection

This collection comprises five finely carved wood fragments. The small ebony fragment was made in Syria in the 8th Century and is decorated with a floral motif carved in high relief. The small slender wood fragment is of Egyptian origin and dates back to the 11th or 12th Century. It is adorned on both sides with a rosette and scroll. The corner piece of a wooden panel carved with a deer (head missing) is from the same period and region. The narrow, slightly convex fragment with an incised decor, probably part of a box, was also made in the 12th Century probably in Khorasan. It features a red and black lacquer surface, the underside is also coloured in red. A lovely highlight is the elaborately worked wooden panel, probably the side of a box, which is ornamented with a carved image of a bird in branchwood. The background shows residue of red colour. The fragment dates back to 16th or 17th Century Persia.

The wood fragments are in fair condition according to their age with colour and material loss. They measure between 7 cm and 13 cm in length.

Collection F.R. Martin
At the turn of the Century the Swedish scholar and art historian Fredrik Robert Martin (1868-1933) travelled through much of Persia. By the 1920s he had compiled an extensive and historically important collection of Islamic art, illustrating the craftsmanship of bygone dynasties. During his lifetime F.R. Martin authored many books on the subject of Islamic arts and crafts. Many of the items from the collection, about which an extensive catalogue was published, are nowadays held in the Medelhavsmuseet and the Ethnographical Museum in Stockholm.

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