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Lot Essay
The interlace design of this door, with its eight-pointed stars and the straight borders forming square panels, is typical of the geometry of Islamic Spain. Similar patterns, very frequently based on an eight-pointed star, can be seen particularly on "carpet pages" of Qur'ans of the period, on bookcovers and on tile mosaic designs.
The same Qur'an pages show the small scrolling leaf-motifs which occupy the panels between the ribs. Particularly close are those on a Qur'an dated AH 703/1304 AD in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (Jerrilynn D. Dodds (ed.), Al-Andalus, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1992, no.85, pp.316 and 114). Very similar motifs and geometry indeed can also be seen on a door in the courtyard of the lions in the Alhambra Palace, Granada dateable to circa 1380 (Albert F. Calvert, The Alhambra, London and Liverpool, 1904, pl.111; Leopoldo Torres Balbas, Ars Hispaniae, vol.IV, Arte Almohade, Arte Nasari, Arte Mudejar, Madrid, 1949, fig.203 shows a detail). A further example was sold in these Rooms 10 October 2000, lot 310.
The illustration of the detail of the doors shows that the hinge on the present door matches very closely that on the door in the Alhambra Palace. It has the same long right-angled arms and is attached by the same ribbed bosses along its length.
The same Qur'an pages show the small scrolling leaf-motifs which occupy the panels between the ribs. Particularly close are those on a Qur'an dated AH 703/1304 AD in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (Jerrilynn D. Dodds (ed.), Al-Andalus, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1992, no.85, pp.316 and 114). Very similar motifs and geometry indeed can also be seen on a door in the courtyard of the lions in the Alhambra Palace, Granada dateable to circa 1380 (Albert F. Calvert, The Alhambra, London and Liverpool, 1904, pl.111; Leopoldo Torres Balbas, Ars Hispaniae, vol.IV, Arte Almohade, Arte Nasari, Arte Mudejar, Madrid, 1949, fig.203 shows a detail). A further example was sold in these Rooms 10 October 2000, lot 310.
The illustration of the detail of the doors shows that the hinge on the present door matches very closely that on the door in the Alhambra Palace. It has the same long right-angled arms and is attached by the same ribbed bosses along its length.