A KHORASSAN SILVER AND COPPER INLAID BRONZE INKWELL

NORTH EAST PERSIA, 12TH CENTURY

Details

A KHORASSAN SILVER AND COPPER INLAID BRONZE INKWELL
NORTH EAST PERSIA, 12TH CENTURY
Of cylindrical form, the sides with attachment loops, a small lip around the interior of the mouth, the sides engraved and inlaid with a lattice of copper and silver inlaid strapwork enclosing small floral panels, the underside engraved with a band of fleeting animals interspersed with drop-shaped vestiges of feet around a central bird roundel, the associated flat cover with central cusped dome and ball knop engraved with a band of honorific naskh and kufic benedictory inscriptions alternating with floral roundels, copper-inlaid roundels around the dome
3 7/8in (9.8cm.) total height

Lot Essay

This inkwell can be compared in shape to one sold in these Rooms 27rd April 1993, lot 120). Other known examples of this group have been discussed in Eva Baer: 'An Islamic Inkwell in the Metropolitan Museum of Art', Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ed. Richard Ettinghausen, New York, 1972, pp. 199-211. A closely related inkwell in the Kofler collection suggests that inkwells were part of the insignia of viziers and high court officials as late as the Seljuq period. This item carries a depiction of a scribe with an inkwell of this cylindrical type, accompanied by an inscription referring to the owner of the vessel, an inspector of the court treasury (Baer, op. cit., p. 199, figs 1-5.)

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