A pair of Mamluk carved ivory-inlaid wood panels, Egypt, 14th century, mounted as doors, France, circa 1900

each comprising three decorative panels, featuring a multitude of interlocking polygonal elements of ivory carved with a split-palmette design and set in a geometric stellar composition, within later frames set with openwork lattice iron mounts, carved on other side with a similar design and two inscriptive panels, both mounted into a decorative framework

Ex-Collection Octave Borelli Bey (1849-1911)
Thence by descent

The frame in which the doors are set in fair condition with some minor nicks and old drill hole and nails, some abrasion to external edges consistent with age. The doors in good general condition, some very minor hairline scratches to ivory and discoloration, few minor areas of retouching to small sections of wood, some polygonal elements slightly loose but stable, the iron openwork mount with oxidisation and resulting green tint. The reverse of the doors in good condition, some of these were re-carved at a later stage, and include a panel with an inscription, few old drill holes to wood with associated infill and visible restoration, minor nicks, with an extra old handle which does not function and a bag of large nails, as viewed.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Following the fascinating story of Otave Borelli Bey and his life in Cairo, it is interesting to compare these doors with another set of ivory-carved Mamluk panels mounted as doors in the nineteenth century by another Frenchman living in Egypt, Count Gaston de Saint Maurice (now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, inv. no. 886-1884). Most probably made in Cairo between 1860 and 1870, Gaston’s doors were also made out of ivory plaques dating between 1300-40 and 1480-1520, and mounted in his Neo-Mamluk home in Cairo. They were also displayed at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1878 and would have fit into the prevailing style of the period influenced by Napoleon III's taste as Emperor (1852 - 1870). This trend was followed by Octave who also lived in a sumptuous Cairene home. Upon moving to France, he created an interior comprised of an eclectic mixture of Islamic elements, including these doors set between two Qajar rugs and surmounted by an Ancient Egyptian symbol (see image below).  

Another interesting door composed of an amalgam of Mamluk and pseudo-Mamluk elements is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (inv. no.77.1). Purchased at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876 (the first world fair held in the United States), these doors combine pieces salvaged from Mamluk doors or a minbar, which were remounted by the French architect and dealer Ambroise-Alfred Baudry (1838-1906) who was known to have worked on the interior design for a lot of homes in Cairo (see Ink, Silk & Gold, Islamic Art from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, ed. L. Weinstein, MFA Publications, Boston, 2015, p.49, no.20).  

The pseudo-Arabic inscriptions above the present doors are undecipherable and one is written upside down, suggesting that the mounts were made in France. The iron openwork mounts are elements that recall Mamluk metal door fittings visible on multiple monuments built in Cairo under the Mamluks. Sultan Qaytbay’s madrasa and mosque in Cairo presents a good example as its doors were set with openwork metal mounts with a split-leaf design, a motif which is repeated, but on a smaller scale and more intricately carved ivory stellar plaque set into the minbar of the mosque (see L’Art Mamelouk: Spendeur et Magie des Sultans, Cycle International d’Expositions Musée Sans Frontières, Edisud, 2001, pp.99-100).