Lot Essay
The inscriptions on the inkwell are as follows:
around the base: al-'izz wa'l-iqbal wa'l-dawla wa'l-'afiya li sahibi (Might and auspicious fate and good fortune and spiritual immunity to its owner).
around the side of the lid: al-nasr w'al-baraka wa'l-dawla wa'l baqa li-sahibih Mahmud b. Muhammad khwahir zada (Victory and divine grace and good fortune and lasting life to its owner Mahmud b. Muhammad [his] sister's son)
around the top of the lid are three lines describing the inkwell (davat)
The figures in their niches around the sides are a most remarkable feature. Rarely does the figural detail on an Islamic bronze vessel relate to its function as these do. Two other inkwells have been published with the same decoration of three cusped arches containing similar figures. One is a base in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Melikian, p.124, no.52); the other is in the Kofler-Truniger Collection (Baer, pp.200-1, pls.1-5). While the first obviously contains the same figures, the drawing on the second is far closer to that seen here. The figures on that inkwell also have the same strange emblem on their breasts, similar to the Greek lower case 'gamma'. The Kofler-Truniger example also bears the name of the patron, 'Ali b. Muhammad b. 'Ali al-mushrif (the inspector [of the court treasury]).
The present example differs from the others in its use of nielloed silver for the rings and loops; the others have examples made of bronze. This is an added indulgence rarely seen on any forms of Islamic metalwork.
Baer,E.: 'An Islamic Inkwell in the Metropolitan Museum of Art', in Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1972
Melikian-Chirvani, A.S.: Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, 8th-18th centuries, London 1982
around the base: al-'izz wa'l-iqbal wa'l-dawla wa'l-'afiya li sahibi (Might and auspicious fate and good fortune and spiritual immunity to its owner).
around the side of the lid: al-nasr w'al-baraka wa'l-dawla wa'l baqa li-sahibih Mahmud b. Muhammad khwahir zada (Victory and divine grace and good fortune and lasting life to its owner Mahmud b. Muhammad [his] sister's son)
around the top of the lid are three lines describing the inkwell (davat)
The figures in their niches around the sides are a most remarkable feature. Rarely does the figural detail on an Islamic bronze vessel relate to its function as these do. Two other inkwells have been published with the same decoration of three cusped arches containing similar figures. One is a base in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Melikian, p.124, no.52); the other is in the Kofler-Truniger Collection (Baer, pp.200-1, pls.1-5). While the first obviously contains the same figures, the drawing on the second is far closer to that seen here. The figures on that inkwell also have the same strange emblem on their breasts, similar to the Greek lower case 'gamma'. The Kofler-Truniger example also bears the name of the patron, 'Ali b. Muhammad b. 'Ali al-mushrif (the inspector [of the court treasury]).
The present example differs from the others in its use of nielloed silver for the rings and loops; the others have examples made of bronze. This is an added indulgence rarely seen on any forms of Islamic metalwork.
Baer,E.: 'An Islamic Inkwell in the Metropolitan Museum of Art', in Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1972
Melikian-Chirvani, A.S.: Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, 8th-18th centuries, London 1982