Sculpture; Hexagonal ivory plaque. Carved in relief with a bird & two hares against a background of interlaced foliage. Egypt, 11th century.; Ivory Egyptian (fatimid) 11c

Hexagonal ivory plaque. Carved in relief on two levels: interlacing foliate scrolls form a background to the main images in higher relief of a pair of addorsed hares and a bird overhead.

Given by G.D. Hornblower

Historical significance: The juxtaposition of low and high relief carving also occurs in Fatimid woodwork, for example the eleventh-century panels probably from the Dar al-Qutbiyya (reused in the thirteenth-century maristan (hospital) of Qala'un). This decorative style continues into the Ayyubid and Mamluk period, demonstrated by the V&A carved wooden tiles (391-1884) from the minbar of the mosque of Ibn Tulun, dated 1297-8. The technique is also found in other media, such as stone, e.g. the V&A marble basin (335-1903), dated 1277.

There are two comparable plaques in the Louvre, four in Berlin and six in the Bargello Museum in Florence.

This hexagonal plaque was probably made for insertion into a wooden panel. Four of the six sides retain a lower protruding flange which would have interlocked beneath abutting wooden sections. This technique is also evident in a pair of ivory-inlaid wooden doors at the V&A, 886&a-1884.

This small hexagonal (six-sided) plaque has two levels of carved decoration. The shallow carved intertwined leafy stems form a background for the more prominently carved animal decoration. These show a bird in flight above a pair of hares and may represent a bird of prey swooping on its quarry. The plaque probably formed part of a panel in a door, a casket or a similar item of woodwork. We think it was made in Egypt during the Fatimid period (969-1171).

A.53-1921