AN UMAYYAD LIMESTONE CAPITAL, SYRIA OR JORDAN, CIRCA 8TH CENTURY

AN UMAYYAD LIMESTONE CAPITAL, SYRIA OR JORDAN, CIRCA 8TH CENTURY of square section, carved in relief with stylised acanthus leaves, 21 x 22.5 x 22.5cm Provenance: Property of a European Collector (see lot 8 for further details); Sotheby's London, 1st April 2009, lot 54; formerly in the collection of a French diplomat, acquired in the 1960s. This column capital demonstrates the way Greco-Roman and Byzantine decorative motifs endured and evolved after the arrival of Islam; the acanthus motifs of the Corinthian capital have become increasingly abstract and more reminiscent of palm fronds.