ELEMENTS OF A LARGE CARVED WOOD FRIEZE Morocco, Saadian period, 16th-17th century Three fragmentary wooden panels, originally part of a frieze, decorated with tapestry motifs of foliage and palmettes interspersed with two long vertical stems tying into a stylised knot. General wear and tear, splinters in the wood, the longest element broken off and glued back together lengthways, one of the two square elements assembled, the second broken off. Dimensions: 49 x 113 cm ; 49 x 49 cm ; 49 x 50 cm These three fragments of a carved wooden frieze, probably dating from the Saadian period (XVIᵉ-XVIIᵉ century), bear witness to the persistence of the ornamental vocabulary inherited from the Marinid workshops. Their decoration, made up of scrolls, palmettes and vertical stems tied together in geometric interlacing, unfolds in a relatively flat, barely differentiated relief, characteristic of Saadian sculpture. This rigorous execution, based on contour and repetition, contrasts with the more nuanced modelling of earlier Merinid works. These elements, undoubtedly taken from a entablature or cornice, illustrate the continuity and progressive stylisation of Moroccan woodwork at the turn of the Middle Ages and the modern era. A very similar example sold at Christie's on 31 March 2009, lot 118. These panels were reused to form a large chest, the lid and back panel of which have now disappeared. This assembly probably dates from the 19th century. They are presented here as a frieze, as they were originally. A Large Carved Wooden Frieze, Saadian Morocco, 16th-17th century