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Lot Essay
The inscriptions read:
al-'izz al-da'im w'al- iqbal w'al-salim , w'al-dawla w'al-kirama w'al-tamkin wa (Perpetual glory, prosperity, soundness, wealth, generosity, authority and)
al-'izz w'al-baqa w'al-dawla w'al-nama , w'al-shurta w'al-baha w'al- rif'a w'al-thana w'al-'urta(?) (Glory, long life, wealth, growth, favourable wind, brilliance, elevation, praise and grazing on shrubs).
The word al-'urta seems very strange in this context, but it is difficult to read other than that. It could also give a clue as to the purpose of these unusual objects. Were they used for tethering animals from the royal stables or menagerie?
The precise origin is also difficult to pin down. The animal carving has similarities with carvings from the Konya district, particularly the astrological dragon's head on the lions. The trefoil decoration on the sides is also found to have comparables in Konya carving (Sarre, Friedrich: Der Kiosk von Konia, Berlin, 1937, pl.9.). It is also been suggested however that the script is close to that of the Eastern Islamic world, particularly Afghanistan. Animals do at times decorate the palaces of the Ghaznavids and again they are found to play with the trefoil terminal motif (Hill, Derek and Grabar, Oleg: Islamic Architecture and its Decoration, London, 1964, pls.611 and 612).
The survival of the painted details is remarkable and gives an insight into how many other stone carvings probably looked when they were first carved.
al-'izz al-da'im w'al- iqbal w'al-salim , w'al-dawla w'al-kirama w'al-tamkin wa (Perpetual glory, prosperity, soundness, wealth, generosity, authority and)
al-'izz w'al-baqa w'al-dawla w'al-nama , w'al-shurta w'al-baha w'al- rif'a w'al-thana w'al-'urta(?) (Glory, long life, wealth, growth, favourable wind, brilliance, elevation, praise and grazing on shrubs).
The word al-'urta seems very strange in this context, but it is difficult to read other than that. It could also give a clue as to the purpose of these unusual objects. Were they used for tethering animals from the royal stables or menagerie?
The precise origin is also difficult to pin down. The animal carving has similarities with carvings from the Konya district, particularly the astrological dragon's head on the lions. The trefoil decoration on the sides is also found to have comparables in Konya carving (Sarre, Friedrich: Der Kiosk von Konia, Berlin, 1937, pl.9.). It is also been suggested however that the script is close to that of the Eastern Islamic world, particularly Afghanistan. Animals do at times decorate the palaces of the Ghaznavids and again they are found to play with the trefoil terminal motif (Hill, Derek and Grabar, Oleg: Islamic Architecture and its Decoration, London, 1964, pls.611 and 612).
The survival of the painted details is remarkable and gives an insight into how many other stone carvings probably looked when they were first carved.