AN ILKHANID OR GOLDEN HORDE ENGRAVED PARCEL GILT SILVER CUP
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AN ILKHANID OR GOLDEN HORDE ENGRAVED PARCEL GILT SILVER CUP

CENTRAL ASIA OR NORTH IRAN, 14TH CENTURY

Details
AN ILKHANID OR GOLDEN HORDE ENGRAVED PARCEL GILT SILVER CUP
CENTRAL ASIA OR NORTH IRAN, 14TH CENTURY
With flat base and rounded sides, a separately made flat cusped handle spreading from the rim on one side, the centre engraved and pounced with a lobed quatrefoil depicting a flying crane surrounded by palmettes, the sides with further similar palmettes, the handle with a central lotus flower issuing further similar scrolls on a pounced background, a small loop underneath, slight damage
3¾in. (9.8cm.) diam.
Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Silver bowls with a horizontal handle were current in the Golden Horde Khanate which was ruled over by the descendants of Genghiz Khan's second son, Jochi. The Khanate between the 13th and the 15th century spanned Moldavia in the west and the Qipchaq Steppe in the east. Archaeological excavations at the second capital, Saray Berke on the Volga have revealed the culture and artistic achievements of the Golden Horde. The bowls in silver and gold of this type have been found in south Russia as well as in Central Asia. They are engraved with a variety of floral designs including the flying crane seen here.

This is one of a small number of similar vessels, all but two of which are made of silver rather than gold, most of which are in the State Hermitage, St. Petersburg, having been excavated in areas within the former Soviet Union where "several dozen" have been excavated (Anatoli Ivanov (intro. by) Masterpieces of Islamic Art in the Hermitage Museum, Kuwait, 1990, no.62, p.94). A number of these, showing some of the variety of form and decoration, are published in The Treasures of the Golden Horde, exhibition catalogue, Saint Petersburg 2000, nos.40, 41, 46, and 57-69, pp.219-231. There is also an example in the David Collection, Copenhagen (Kjeld von Folsach et al.: Sultan, Shah and Great Mughal, exhibition catalogue, Copenhagen, 1996, no.253, p.276), while a further example was sold in these Rooms, 10 October 2000, lot 275.

Ivanov suggests that these were bowls for travellers, being carried within a special bag hanging from the belt. This is presumably a finding from archaeological sites. A similar bowl is however depicted in the hand of the enthroned Sultan Sanjar ibn Malik Shah in the Edinburgh University part of the Jami al-Tawarikh of Rashid al-Din (David Talbot Rice, and Basil Gray, The Illustrations to the World History of Rashid al-Din, Edinburgh, 1976, pl.68, p.174), showing that such bowls were used at the courts of the rulers of the time, not solely on their travels
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