Sultanate Mihrab (Prayer Niche)
Artist: Delhi Sultanate (Indian, 1206 - 1526)
Date: November 1320 (720 AH)
Dimensions:
45 × 16 × 3 1/16 in. (114.4 × 40.6 × 7.8 cm)
Medium: white marble
Place of Origin: India
Classification: Architectural Elements
Credit Line: Purchased with funds given by Drs. Sam and Fadia Abaza, Drs. S. Mansoor Abidi and Farhana Habib, James S. Adray, Mr. and Mrs. Naveed Ahmed, Dr. and Mrs. M.Y. Ahmed, Dr. and Mrs. Nasir Ali, Dr. Abed and Mrs. Ghada Alo, Dr. and Mrs. Steven M. Ariss, Dr. and Mrs. Fayyaz H. Hashmi, Dr. and Mrs. Raza Hashmi, Dr. S. Amjad Hussain, Dr. Saleh A. Jabarin, Cherrefe A. Kadri, Dr. Abida Khan, Michael S. Orra, Dr. NurJehan Quraishy, Drs. M. Razi and Shadida Rafeeq, Drs. Syed and Tabinda Rehman, Hussien and Randa Shousher, Dr. and Mrs. Karim Zafar, and with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 2010.6
Label Text:A mihrab is a niche placed in a wall facing Mecca, the holy city of Islam, toward which a Muslim directs prayer five times a day. This example includes a carved inscription in Arabic (along the bottom) that honors the man who paid for the work: …the chief sadr and noble … of Islam, Umar ibn Ahmad ibn Abi al-Fath al-Kazaruni, ordered this blessed mihrab … on the date in the blessed month of Ramadan the year seven hundred and twenty.
DescriptionThe mihrab is composed of a rectangular marble slab that was taken from a Hindu context-- probably a temple-- and re-carved for use as an Islamic mihrab (a prayer niche that marks the qibla, i.e., the direction of Mecca toward which a Muslim directs prayer).
The front is framed by a flat surface carved with a part of the dedicatory inscription at the base. Vine tendrils and vegetation, a major form of decoration in both Christian and Muslim architectural art, are carved in low relief on the frame's three other sides.
The niche itself curves back from the frame and includes the opening part of the inscription at its base. The niche rises vertically to a series of three cusped lobes on each side that lead to a pointed arch, which curves and counter-curves to a pointed apex. Surrounding the upper forms are the spandrels, two flat surfaces deeply carved with lotus blossoms and vine tendrils.
The apex of the niche contains a carved ring and four links of a chain, remnants of a fuller carving that dropped to the middle of the niche and probably supported the image of a lamp (evidence for this is found in two surviving and roughly contemporary niches from the Gujarat that retain their original decoration).
Interestingly, the back of the slab has carved remnants of Hindu gods!
The front is framed by a flat surface carved with a part of the dedicatory inscription at the base. Vine tendrils and vegetation, a major form of decoration in both Christian and Muslim architectural art, are carved in low relief on the frame's three other sides.
The niche itself curves back from the frame and includes the opening part of the inscription at its base. The niche rises vertically to a series of three cusped lobes on each side that lead to a pointed arch, which curves and counter-curves to a pointed apex. Surrounding the upper forms are the spandrels, two flat surfaces deeply carved with lotus blossoms and vine tendrils.
The apex of the niche contains a carved ring and four links of a chain, remnants of a fuller carving that dropped to the middle of the niche and probably supported the image of a lamp (evidence for this is found in two surviving and roughly contemporary niches from the Gujarat that retain their original decoration).
Interestingly, the back of the slab has carved remnants of Hindu gods!
On view
In Collection(s)