Chest Front with Inlaid Decoration
17th century
Physical Qualities
Walnut, mother-of-pearl, 18 1/2 x 44 3/4 x 1 in. (47 x 113.7 x 2.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Lockwood de Forest Collection
Object Number
1922.2.103
Large chests were common furnishings in prosperous households across the pre-20th-century Muslim world. Visually impressive as well as practical, they with an entirely geometric pattern of circles with shiny diamond-shaped inlay and stars. Borders and framing are equally important elements of the design.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1922; American Art Galleries, New York; Lockwood DeForest purchased in Syria, probably 1882
Frances Klapthor, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Art Across Asia: West Asian Connections," July 19, 2017-October 19, 2019
Catalogue of the Rare and Valuable Examples of East Indian Persian and Syro-Damascan Art and Curios forming the private collection of the widely known artist and connoisseur Lockwood De Forest, Esq. of New York City, NY: American Art Association, 1922, no. 457b.
