Neo-Mamluk Hexagonal Qur'an Table (Kursi)

Egypt, c. 1890
Brass inlaid with silver
85cm high, 47cm wide
Provenance: Belgian private collection
Stock no.: A5053

Make an enquiry +44 (0)20 7937 4422

Neo-Mamluk Hexagonal Qur'an Table (Kursi)

--Select a country-- Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo (DRC) Cook Islands Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Islands Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern and Antarctic Lands Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libye Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau SAR Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka St. Helena St. Kitts And Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands Virgin Islands, British Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zaire Zambia Zimbabwe

 

SEND

Success:

Email sent successfully

This silver-inlaid brass Qur'an stand (kursi) is a fine example of the Cairene Revival of the late 19th century. It is modelled on the 14th century kursi of al-Nasir Muhammad, held in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (accession no. 139).¹ In 1884, the Museum of Arab Art opened in Cairo, where the kursi of al-Nasir Muhammad was housed. Giuseppe Parvis, who had earned a reputation as an orientalist furniture designer at the Paris Exposition Universelle, was allowed entry by Khedive Isma'il to the museum.² Following this visit, he created copies of al-Nasir Muhammad's kursi, which became commercially successful throughout the Islamic world, particuarly amongst the new market of tourists visiting from Europe and America.³ Two even reached the Topkapı Saray where they were mistakenly published as Mamluk originals.⁴

Both the form and ornamentation of the present kursi replicates the Mamluk original faithfully. The central roundels are inscribed with the name of 'Muhammad', whilst birds are applied with silver inlay in polylobed cartouches. 

Similar neo-Mamluk kursis can be found in the British Museum, London (accession no. 1925,0407.1), Penn Museum, Philadelphia (accession no. NEP69), and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, Honolulu (accession no. 54.136.1). 

n.b. accession nos are clickable links.

¹ Illustrated in O'Kane, Bernard (ed). The Treasures of Islamic Art in the Museums of Cairo. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2006. 155. Cat. 137. 
² Juvin, Carine and Makariou, Sophie. ‘The Louvre Kursi: Functions and Meanings’ in Doris Behrens-Abouseif (ed.) The Arts of the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria – Evolution and Impact. Bonn: Bonn University Press, 2012. 37-54: 49. 
³ Milwright, Marcus. ‘Reviving the Past and Confronting the Present: Crafts in Syria and Egypt, c. 1875-1925’, The Journal of Modern Craft 13.1 (2020) 7-21: 13. 
⁴ Çiğ. K. ‘Two metal Koran cases recently discovered in the Topkapı Palace Museum’, in G. Fehér (ed.) International Congress of Turkish Art 5 (1978). 261-66.