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Ostad Ahmad

Cenotaph of Taj al-Mulk wal-Din Abul-Qasim, dated February 1473

Now On View

Description

Maker

Culture

Iranian

Title

Cenotaph of Taj al-Mulk wal-Din Abul-Qasim

Year

dated February 1473

Medium

Carved wood

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Techniques

Dimensions

112.7 x 187.3 x 117.5 cm (44 3/8 x 73 3/4 x 46 1/4 inches)

Place

Mazandaran province; Iran

Type

Credit

Museum Appropriation Fund

Object Number

18.728

Projects & Publications

Publications

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Asian Art Galleries

Embellished with calligraphy and intricate geometric and vegetal designs, this work memorializes the son of Imam Musa al-Kazim, a religious leader who was said to be a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. A horizontal frieze of Arabic script encircles the top of the cenotaph. The vertical side panels carry devotional inscriptions about the ephemeral nature of life and the importance of obeying and venerating God.

In Persia (now known as Iran), wooden cenotaphs did not contain the deceased, but were made as memorials for holy men. Wood, a rare material in the region, was reserved for the elite and typically used for the finest examples of such works. This cenotaph, commissioned by a Mazandaran ruler in Persia, attests to the skills of the carvers who made it.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Cenotaph of Taj al-Mulk wal-Din Abul-Qasim with the accession number of 18.728. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.