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Figurine in the Form of a Camel Carrying a Palanquin and Two Riders

12th–early 13th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 453
Camel-rearing traditions may explain their frequent appearance in twelfth-century arts and their praise in mystical poetry. It has been suggested that Turkmen tribes bred hybrids of one- and two-humped camels and their southward migration and foundation of the Great Seljuq state was prompted, beyond an unstable political situation, by a climate change unfavorable to this occupation.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Figurine in the Form of a Camel Carrying a Palanquin and Two Riders
  • Date: 12th–early 13th century
  • Geography: Attributed to probably Iran or Iraq
  • Medium: Stonepaste; molded in sections, glazed in turquoise
  • Dimensions: H. 7 11/16 in. (19.5 cm)
    W. 5 9/16 in. (14.1 cm)
    D. 2 9/16 in. (6.5 cm)
    Wt. 21.7 oz. (615.3 g)
  • Classification: Ceramics
  • Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1964
  • Object Number: 64.59
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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dated 612 AH/1215–16 CE
Turquoise Bowl with Lute Player and Audience, Stonepaste; glazed (opaque monochrome), in-glaze- and overglaze-painted, gilded
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late 12th–early 13th century
Luster Bowl with Winged Horse, Stonepaste; luster-painted on opaque monochrome glaze
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late 12th century
Standing Figure with Jeweled Headdress, Gypsum plaster; modeled, carved, polychrome-painted, gilded
Standing Figure with Jeweled Headdress
12th–early 13th century
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dated 755 AH/1354–55 CE

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