PROBABLY KHORASSAN OR HERAT, LATE 15TH OR EARLY 16TH CENTURY

Details

A LATE TIMURID OR EARLY SAFAVID TINNED COPPER BOWL
Probably Khorassan or Herat, late 15th or early 16th century
Of squat spherical form with T-section rim on flat base, the sides with a band of elaborately engraved arabesques forming alternating arches and ogival panels each containing a palmette surrounded by floral motifs on a cross-hatched ground, a band of meandering interlaced arabesques above, a band of continuous naskh inscription below the rim also on cross-hatched ground with some black composition infill remaining, one owner's inscription on the exterior of the rim, another on the upper surface, tinning rubbed, otherwise good condition
11½in. (29cm.) diam.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

The inscription around the rim contains invocations to God and the Fourteen Innocents.

The owner's inscription on the exterior of the rim is in the name of Mirza Muhammad. On the top of the rim in one place is "Muhammad Hasan", while facing it, in the same hand, above the start of the main inscription is the simple "Abdeh (God's servant) Taher". The placing of this inscription and the one across the rim from it, coupled with the simplicity of the name and the style of the script, makes it possible that Taher was the maker of this bowl, while the patron was Muhammad Hasan.

The palmette panel decoration around the sides of the bowl is very similar to that of a dish in the Victoria and Albert Museum, dated 902 (1496-97 AD) (Melikian-Chirvani, A.S.: Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, London, 1982, no.110, pp.250-252).

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