EGYPT OR SYRIA, 15TH CENTURY

The decoration on this bowl is very similar to that on two related vessels in the collection of the British Museum, London (acc.nos.1866,1229.65 and 1866,1229.67). This includes decorative features typical of the later Mamluk period, such as the lattice of Y-shaped motifs in the roundels between calligraphic panels, as well as an apparently identical poetic inscription. The only clear difference is that both appear to be smaller in size than our bowl. Like the British Museum bowls, our example has on it the penbox-shaped blazon of the dawadar, used by court functionaries associated with the Mamluk chancery.