Pair of Carved Doors

These teak doors consist of several decorative and epigraphic panels joined together and inset into a frame. The pair of square panels with geometric designs reflect carved Iranian woodwork of the fifteenth century. A cenotaph, dated 1473, now in the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, displays very similar designs and inscriptions. The scrolling vines framing the panels and on the vertical bar share qualities with wave motifs seen in Timurid ceramics (40.170.635), suggesting the possible circulation of designs across media. The rectangular inset panels contain inscriptions in naskhi script that provide important contextual details including the name of the patron, Davud ibn Ali Davud, and the artist, Ustad Muhammad, and that the doors were intended for a shrine.