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Lot Essay
INSCRIPTIONS:
The words bi-san-i 'Ali Ghazi, 'in the manner[?] of 'Ali Ghazi', are incised on one side at the top
This object is a stone mould, used for decorating leather accoutrements. A craftsperson would have first prepared the mould by painting the surface with a light tanning agent. Then after soaking a piece of leather in water, it would have been pressed into the mould, throwing the elements into relief and staining the background a darker shade (Ralph Pinder Wilson, ‘Stone Press Moulds and Leatherworking in Khosrasan’, in Emilie Savage-Smith, Science, Tools, and Magic: Part Two, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection, Oxford, 1997, p.340). Press moulds like this would have been used to produce all manner of leather articles - from saddles and book covers to the leather wall hangings which adorned the villas and palaces of Umayyad Cordoba. The idea that the side with the tripartite design was used to make leather wallets is supported by a surviving example in the Khalili collection (published by Ralph Pinder Wilson, op cit., no. 214, p. 341). The purpose of the other side is harder to determine, it may have been used to make a quiver or scabbard, or a belt tab. When so little early Islamic leatherwork survives, this mould gives a glimpse into an art form which is otherwise almost completely lost.
Further examples of limestone leather moulds are in the Furusiyya foundation (Inv. R-631, published by Bashir Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight, Milan, 2007, no. 118, p. 129) and the Boston Museum of Fine Art (no. 45.941). The example in Boston bears the name of a certain Bandar al-Sarraj, whose nisba means ‘the saddlemaker’, suggesting that as well as making small leather articles, artisans also turned their hands to larger commissions. The inscription on the present lot, however, offers a different kind of insight. If the first part is understood as meaning 'in the manner of', it may suggest that particular designs were associated with particular master craftsmen. All of this gives valuable insight into the elusive topic of the organisation of workshops in the medieval Islamic world.
In a 1954 article, Richard Ettinghausen attributed the example in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to 12th century Iran (Richard Ettinghausen, ’On the Covers of the Morgan Manafi’ manuscript and other Early Persian Bookbindings’, in D. Miner, Studies in Art and Literature for Bella de Costa Greene, Princeton, 1954, p. 359). Ralph Pinder Wilson attributes them more specifically to Khorassan, using as evidence the fact that the soft limestone of which the present lot was made occurs naturally north of Herat. He also points to the 982 geographical treatise Hudud al-‘Alam, which mentions the manufacture of ‘Guzgani leather’, named after the province in Guzganan in what is today Northern Afghanistan, ‘which was exported all over the world’ (Ralph Pinder Wilson, op cit., p. 344).
The waq-waq motifs in the scroll work on both sides invite comparison with Khorassani metalwork, such as a number of pen boxes signed by Shadhi al-Naqqash. The example dated to AH 607/1210 AD which is in the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C. (F1936.7) is particularly striking, with the ascending vine on the lid closely resembling the pattern on the present lot. The inscription on this penbox dedicates it to Majd al-Malik al-Muzaffar (d.1221), a Khwarazmshah Grand Vizier and Governor of Khorassan, and as such it is normally attributed to Herat. This only strengthens the attribution of this group of stone moulds to Khorassan.
The words bi-san-i 'Ali Ghazi, 'in the manner[?] of 'Ali Ghazi', are incised on one side at the top
This object is a stone mould, used for decorating leather accoutrements. A craftsperson would have first prepared the mould by painting the surface with a light tanning agent. Then after soaking a piece of leather in water, it would have been pressed into the mould, throwing the elements into relief and staining the background a darker shade (Ralph Pinder Wilson, ‘Stone Press Moulds and Leatherworking in Khosrasan’, in Emilie Savage-Smith, Science, Tools, and Magic: Part Two, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection, Oxford, 1997, p.340). Press moulds like this would have been used to produce all manner of leather articles - from saddles and book covers to the leather wall hangings which adorned the villas and palaces of Umayyad Cordoba. The idea that the side with the tripartite design was used to make leather wallets is supported by a surviving example in the Khalili collection (published by Ralph Pinder Wilson, op cit., no. 214, p. 341). The purpose of the other side is harder to determine, it may have been used to make a quiver or scabbard, or a belt tab. When so little early Islamic leatherwork survives, this mould gives a glimpse into an art form which is otherwise almost completely lost.
Further examples of limestone leather moulds are in the Furusiyya foundation (Inv. R-631, published by Bashir Mohamed, The Arts of the Muslim Knight, Milan, 2007, no. 118, p. 129) and the Boston Museum of Fine Art (no. 45.941). The example in Boston bears the name of a certain Bandar al-Sarraj, whose nisba means ‘the saddlemaker’, suggesting that as well as making small leather articles, artisans also turned their hands to larger commissions. The inscription on the present lot, however, offers a different kind of insight. If the first part is understood as meaning 'in the manner of', it may suggest that particular designs were associated with particular master craftsmen. All of this gives valuable insight into the elusive topic of the organisation of workshops in the medieval Islamic world.
In a 1954 article, Richard Ettinghausen attributed the example in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to 12th century Iran (Richard Ettinghausen, ’On the Covers of the Morgan Manafi’ manuscript and other Early Persian Bookbindings’, in D. Miner, Studies in Art and Literature for Bella de Costa Greene, Princeton, 1954, p. 359). Ralph Pinder Wilson attributes them more specifically to Khorassan, using as evidence the fact that the soft limestone of which the present lot was made occurs naturally north of Herat. He also points to the 982 geographical treatise Hudud al-‘Alam, which mentions the manufacture of ‘Guzgani leather’, named after the province in Guzganan in what is today Northern Afghanistan, ‘which was exported all over the world’ (Ralph Pinder Wilson, op cit., p. 344).
The waq-waq motifs in the scroll work on both sides invite comparison with Khorassani metalwork, such as a number of pen boxes signed by Shadhi al-Naqqash. The example dated to AH 607/1210 AD which is in the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C. (F1936.7) is particularly striking, with the ascending vine on the lid closely resembling the pattern on the present lot. The inscription on this penbox dedicates it to Majd al-Malik al-Muzaffar (d.1221), a Khwarazmshah Grand Vizier and Governor of Khorassan, and as such it is normally attributed to Herat. This only strengthens the attribution of this group of stone moulds to Khorassan.