an old ‘figure chair’ from the upper Swat Valley in North Pakistan. It is made from Himalayan cedar wood in nine individually carved parts. Assembled and mortised without nails. The low seat is made up of tightly plaited leather bands. The high back rest consists of three parts, that on their front side are carved with deep reliefs in the form of floral and leaf motifs. On both sides of the backrest stand two stylised human figures, carved out from the same piece and attached by means of twisted leather bands. Such representations are rare and appear only on very old chairs of honour belonging to Pathan chiefs (‘Maliks’).
This human motif can be described as ‘pre-Islamic’. This is because in Sunni Islam all figurative representation is forbidden. The Islamisation of the Swat Valley in North Pakistan was not so abrupt as that in neighbouring North Afghanistan, where Shah Abdur Rahman Khan, in a military winter campaign in 1895/1896 had violently Islamised the Hindu Kusch Valley of the ‘Kafirs’ (‘the unbelievers’). From this point on (1896) no further figurative representation was carved, such as the earlier typical horsemen on graves or the heads of gods on door posts. In the Hindu Kush valleys that lay further to the east of North Pakistan, the Islamisation took place slowly and ‘subtly’ from the 14th century. The present ‘figure chair’ displays a shiny, very old usage patina on all parts. No significant damage.
Dimensions: 77 cm (total height, seat: 23 cm) x 51 cm x 42 cm.
19th century to around 1900. (ME)

Provenance:
Austrian private collection.