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Lot Essay
Around the rim: al-‘izz wa’l-iqbal wa’l-dawla wa’l-salama wa’l-sa‘ada wa’l-ni‘ma wa’l-‘afiya wa wa’l-shukra wa’l-shakir[a] wa’l-nusra wa’l-nasira wa’l-‘inaya wa’l-baqa da’iman, ‘Glory and prosperity and wealth and well-being and happiness and [God’s] grace and health and gratitude and gratefulness and victory victoriousness and favour and long life, perpetually.'
The rhythmic benedictory naskh inscriptions on a scrolling ground on this charming bowl, all the more emphasised by the amount of silver inlay preserved, are typical of Khorassan metalwork. Moreover, the interlaced arcade below the calligraphy is similar to those found on other Khorassani metalwork such as a tray in the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait (inv.no.LNS587 M) which is of comparable complex and angular drawing.
The form of the bowl, however, is unusual with its shallow rounded body tapering in to a narrower rim, differing from the deep rounded form and short foot, most commonly associated with Khorassan bowls. The rounded sides are similar to a Khorassan bowl in the Historisches Museum, Berne (see Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani, Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World: 8 – 18th centuries, London, 1982, p.146, no. 52) although that bowl tapers to a narrower base. While the base and foot of this bowl are possibly different from the original production, the angle at which the sides curve would lend itself to a shallower rounded form.
The profile of this bowl is perhaps more aligned with Fars bowls of Western Iran, which flourished in the fourteenth century. Furthermore, bands of interlaced strapwork with drop-shape terminals also later reappear on fourteenth century Fars bowls, although typically of more curvilinear form (see, Melikian-Chirvani, op.cit. pp.209-11, nos.95 and 96). Melikian-Chirvani examines the probable influences of Khorassan metalwork in western Iran in part owing to the import of Khorassan metalwork to areas just outside the north and north-western provinces of Iran to Armenia and Northern Mesopotamia (op.cit. p.137). This unusual bowl could therefore be an eastern precursor to a profile that would later predominate in the western provinces.
The rhythmic benedictory naskh inscriptions on a scrolling ground on this charming bowl, all the more emphasised by the amount of silver inlay preserved, are typical of Khorassan metalwork. Moreover, the interlaced arcade below the calligraphy is similar to those found on other Khorassani metalwork such as a tray in the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait (inv.no.LNS587 M) which is of comparable complex and angular drawing.
The form of the bowl, however, is unusual with its shallow rounded body tapering in to a narrower rim, differing from the deep rounded form and short foot, most commonly associated with Khorassan bowls. The rounded sides are similar to a Khorassan bowl in the Historisches Museum, Berne (see Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani, Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World: 8 – 18th centuries, London, 1982, p.146, no. 52) although that bowl tapers to a narrower base. While the base and foot of this bowl are possibly different from the original production, the angle at which the sides curve would lend itself to a shallower rounded form.
The profile of this bowl is perhaps more aligned with Fars bowls of Western Iran, which flourished in the fourteenth century. Furthermore, bands of interlaced strapwork with drop-shape terminals also later reappear on fourteenth century Fars bowls, although typically of more curvilinear form (see, Melikian-Chirvani, op.cit. pp.209-11, nos.95 and 96). Melikian-Chirvani examines the probable influences of Khorassan metalwork in western Iran in part owing to the import of Khorassan metalwork to areas just outside the north and north-western provinces of Iran to Armenia and Northern Mesopotamia (op.cit. p.137). This unusual bowl could therefore be an eastern precursor to a profile that would later predominate in the western provinces.